Bonanza - A House United, Book 8 - With Malice Toward None
by pulitzer2016
Summary: Adam takes Josie to Sacramento for her birthday, and on the way home, the pair of them find themselves in a pickle, and Adam must trust Josie to take control of a dangerous situation. When they return home, Josie, Little Joe, and Fionn find themselves in another pickle when their apple cider doesn't turn out quite as planned.
1. Chapter 1

**With Malice Toward None  
Book Eight of A HOUSE UNITED series**

 **By Sarah Hendess**

 **Ponderosa Ranch  
Nevada Territory  
Autumn, 1863  
**

Adam and Hoss spent the last week before Adam and Josie's trip down in Hoss Heaven working on the new house. Adam was pleased that they were able to start erecting the walls; he wanted to have all the walls up and the roof finished by mid-October so they'd be working on the interior once the weather grew cold again.

Josie made a trip out to the Marquettes' farm to check on Delphine one last time and was delighted to see that Delphine's pregnancy was progressing normally. Dell and Ross were hopeful, but cautious. Dell had once made it nearly to the end of her first trimester before miscarrying, and despite Josie's reassurances that all was well, Josie knew they wouldn't rest easily until Dell actually delivered a baby.

Ben and Little Joe spent several nights out on the range as they rode the perimeter checking fences and moving cattle to winter pasture. This was usually Adam and Hoss's job, but Ben and Joe didn't mind picking up the task so Adam and Hoss could work on the house. By the time Adam and Josie were packing up to leave the Friday before Josie's birthday, Hoss's house was taking shape, and the Ponderosa was nearly prepared to settle down for the winter.

The day before her and Adam's departure, Josie was up in her bedroom packing her carpetbag for the trip when Ben called her downstairs.

"You've got some mail, Josie!" he hollered up the stairs.

Josie grinned; she'd been hoping her usual birthday greetings from her parents would arrive before she left for Sacramento. She snapped her carpetbag shut and skipped downstairs.

Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe were sitting in the living room when Josie bounded down the stairs and over the Ben, who was at his desk in the alcove. He gestured toward two magazines sitting on the corner of his desk. Josie wrinkled her brow as she picked them up.

" _Frank Leslie's Lady's Magazine_?" she read off the front cover of the top periodical, then shifted to the second one. " _Godey's Lady's Book_? Uncle Ben, are you sure these are for me?"

Ben glanced up at her from the letter he was composing to Jacob. "Well they certainly aren't for me. Here, this came for you, too." He nudged an envelope across the desk toward Josie.

"It's from Aunt Rachel," she said, recognizing the handwriting on the outside. She set the magazines back on the desk and ripped open the letter. "Dear Josephine," she read aloud. "Many happy returns on the occasion of your twenty-third birthday. I hope you will enjoy the subscriptions to _Frank Leslie's Lady's Magazine_ and _Godey's Lady's Book_ that I ordered for you. The first issues should arrive soon. I'm sure you will find their suggestions and recommendations most useful and instructive. Sincerely, Aunt Rachel."

Grinning wickedly, Little Joe leapt from his seat on the settee and zipped over to Josie. He reached under her right arm and ripped _Frank Leslie's_ off the desk. "1863, the Year of Fashion," he read. "Oh, look, Josie! There's a new style for collars and cuffs!" He broke out cackling, and, not wanting to miss the fun, Hoss hustled over to join him and grabbed _Godey's_. The two of them flipped through the magazines, laughing harder with each turned page.

"Hey, this one's got stories!" Hoss exclaimed. "'Aunt Edith: A Tale of the Heart.'" He laid a hand over his heart. "Ain't that sweet. Oh, and look! 'Robin Hood: A Parlor Piece for Evening Parties!' It's got all the parts written out. We could have ourselves a little theatrical production right here in the living room! Hey, Adam, you wanna be Little John or Will Scarlet?"

"Why can't I be Robin Hood?!" Adam protested from the living room. "I'm the oldest; I should get the best part. Pa, you wanna be Richard the Lionheart? We've already got the perfect Maid Marian." He pointed to Josie whose face was burning red. She ripped the magazines away from Hoss and Little Joe.

"You two are so lucky I'm leaving town tomorrow," she seethed. "As for _you_ …" She turned to Adam, who was still sitting in the blue armchair near the fireplace. "We're going to be spending an awful lot of time together over the next two weeks. I'd tread carefully if I were you." Magazines tucked under her arm, she stormed back upstairs to her bedroom and slammed the door.

Adam knocked on Josie's door at five-thirty the next morning, but Josie was already awake. She had woken up shortly after five, and in her excitement over their trip, she hadn't been able to get back to sleep. Before going down to breakfast, she rolled up _Frank Leslie's Lady's Magazine_ and crammed it into her back pocket. She'd decided to forgive her cousins for making fun of her gift last night, but if any of them commented on it again, she intended to thwack the offender over the head with _Frank Leslie's_.

As it turned out, Little Joe and Hoss weren't up yet, so _Frank Leslie's_ was spared becoming a weapon. Josie pulled it out of her pocket and smoothed it on the table.

"Uncle Ben?" she asked as she poured herself some coffee. "Next time you're in town, would you please give this to Molly? I'll think she'll find the fashion plates more useful than I will."

Ben smiled. "Certainly, my dear. All ready for your trip?"

"Yes, sir!" Josie beamed as Adam came in from outside and joined them at the table.

"Got the horses all saddled up and ready to go!" he announced.

Josie cheered and started cramming pancakes and eggs into her mouth as fast as she could until Ben told her slow down lest she make herself ill. Little Joe and Hoss stumbled sleepily down the stairs and over to the table as Ben, Josie, and Adam were finishing breakfast. Hop Sing set a fresh stack of pancakes on a serving plate in the center of the table, and Hoss and Joe attacked them like ravenous wolves. As Ben passed Joe the syrup, Joe noticed the magazine sitting next to his father's coffee cup, and a devilish grin spread across his face.

"Looking for a new gown, Pa?" he asked, dissolving into giggles.

Without a word, Ben picked up _Frank Leslie's_ , rolled it back up, and cracked Little Joe upside the head with it. Joe shouted in surprise and rubbed the back of his stinging head.

"That's enough out of you about Josie's birthday gift," Ben ordered.

Josie nearly shot coffee out of her nose as she broke out laughing. She grabbed the magazine from Ben and gave Joe a good swat with it, too. Adam started to chuckle, too, until Ben reminded him that he'd been party to the teasing last night, and Adam hushed up.

Ben drained the last of his coffee and turned to Josie and Adam. "Well, if you two want to set a leisurely pace, you better hit the road." It was about 120 miles to Sacramento, and Adam planned to make the journey in four days. Pushing hard, the trip could be done in half the time, but this was a vacation, and there was no point in wearing out either themselves or the horses.

Josie and Adam rose from the table and collected the carpetbags they'd placed next to the settee when they'd come down for breakfast. Ben, Hoss, and Little Joe followed them out to the porch to see them off. Josie shivered in the morning air – the nights started getting cold again in September, and the day hadn't yet warmed up – and she buttoned her plaid jacket all the way up to her neck.

Sport and Scout were waiting at the hitching post, and Josie and Adam tied their bags and bedrolls onto the backs of their saddles and then turned to say their goodbyes.

"Have fun, sweetheart," Ben told Josie as he gave her a hug. "Keep Adam out of trouble."

Josie giggled. "I will, Uncle Ben. I promise. And don't let Jimmy go back to work until I get back. His incision's healed, but he still needs to rest."

As Josie turned to hug Joe and Hoss, Ben pulled Adam in close and pressed a wad of bills into his hand. "For that item we discussed," he muttered.

Adam grinned and stuffed the money into his jeans pocket. "You got it, Pa."

"Good man." Ben slapped Adam on the back.

"Let's move 'em out, Josie!" Adam said. He and Josie swung into their saddles, Josie whistled for Pip, and with a final wave to the family, they set off.

They rode along quietly, enjoying the morning sunshine. By the time they stopped for lunch, they were already into the mountains well west of the California border, and by midafternoon, they had picked up the North Fork of the American River, which they would follow all the way to Sacramento. Unlike the more barren road to Virginia City, the path the cousins followed was wooded, the trees gradually shifting from deciduous to coniferous as they climbed higher into the mountains. In late afternoon, Adam reined them to a stop in a small clearing next to the river.

"This looks pretty good for a campsite, don't you think?" he said.

Josie closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, inhaling the fresh scent of the pine trees. The sun filtered through the hairy branches, casting lacy patterns on the ground. "Yeah," she said, grinning. "This should do."

The cousins slid down from their saddles and stretched. Josie told Pip to go find his supper, and the wolfhound bounded into the woods.

"How does he have so much energy after walking thirty miles?!" Adam said.

Josie looked at Adam as if the answer should be obvious. "He's a Cartwright," she answered.

Adam laughed and started untacking Sport. Josie did the same with Scout, and before long, the horses were hobbled and free to graze and drink while the cousins set up camp. It didn't take long for them to gather enough firewood for the night, and Josie laid one of her blankets on a thick bed of pine needles and stretched out on her stomach to read for a bit before supper.

"Hey!" Adam exclaimed when he spotted her book. "That's a Wilkie Collins! That's mine!"

Josie's hand flew to the spine of the book to cover the title. "Don't know what you're talking about, Adam," she said, biting back a giggle. She hid her face behind the book so Adam couldn't see her smiling.

"You need to get that library open so you can stop stealing my books," Adam said, chucking his hat at her. It bounced off her rear end and onto the blanket next to her. She snatched it up and dropped it on her head over top her own hat.

"Now I've got your book AND your hat," she teased, sticking her tongue out at him.

"That's ok. I've got all the food."

Still giggling, Josie stood up and gave Adam back his hat. "Do you want your book back, too?" she asked.

"No, you enjoy it. What happened to _Moby-Dick_ , though? Did you finish it?"

Josie sighed and gazed down at her boots, suddenly intrigued by a speck of dirt on the right toe. "Actually, Adam," she began slowly. "I couldn't make it through that book. I'm sorry, but it was just awful."

Much to Josie's surprise, Adam burst out laughing.

"You're not upset?!" she asked. "I thought you loved that book!"

"I HATE that book!" Adam replied between peals of hysterics. "I just wanted to see what you'd do!"

Josie scowled at him. "Just for that, I'm keeping this one!" She waved the Collins under his nose. But as Adam stood there, still giggling at his own cleverness, Josie broke into a smile. "You and Joe are more alike than you care to admit," she said.

"I know it. Come on, let's get supper going. I'm starving."

Adam built a small cooking fire, but once their beans and coffee were heated, he threw on a few more logs. The sun had just dipped below the horizon, but the evening was already getting cold. Adam was glad he had insisted they each bring three blankets; he expected the temperature here in the mountains would drop to near freezing overnight. Pip had returned while they ate their supper, a fat rabbit clutched in his jaws. He lay down between Josie and Adam and tore into it.

"Thanks for suggesting we ride rather than take the stage," Josie said as they sipped their coffee and munched on some cookies Hop Sing had sent along. "I know I'm not the best rider, but this is fun."

"You're doing really well. You may not see it, but you've come a long way in the past two years, Josie."

Josie smiled. "It's nice not to feel so helpless anymore."

"Josie, I think you're the least helpless person I've ever met."

Josie smiled again, and the cousins finished their coffee and cookies in companionable silence.

Josie had thought she'd read for a bit after supper, but as soon as they'd cleaned up their dishes, an enormous yawn split her jaw, and she realized how exhausted she was from their long ride.

"Let's get some sleep," Adam said. "We've got another long ride tomorrow."

The temperature had dropped from chilly to cold, and Adam and Josie grabbed all of their blankets off the horses, which they tied to a nearby tree for the night. Adam wrapped up in his blankets and lay down near the fire, Josie a few feet away. Adam stretched out on his side and rested his head on his arm, and he felt a pang of jealousy as he realized that Josie had brought along a small pillow. Pip lay down beside Josie, and the cousins bid each other goodnight.

Adam drifted right off to sleep, but he awoke less than an hour later. His hand automatically reached for his Remington, which lay on the ground near his head, but then he realized that it was Josie who had woken him. She hadn't called out, but when he glanced over at her, he could see her shivering; he must have sensed her movement. Her front was to the fire and Pip was pressed up against her back, but the temperature had plummeted, and Josie didn't have the muscle mass Adam had to provide insulation.

"Hey, Josie," Adam whispered. "You all right?" Josie didn't respond, but she didn't fool Adam. "I know you're awake."

"I'm fine," Josie insisted.

Adam could hear her teeth chattering. "You're cold."

"Am not."

Adam smiled at Josie's stubbornness. "Josie, come here."

Josie hesitated. She had felt so proud when Adam had told her that she was the least helpless person he'd ever met, and she didn't want to let him down.

"Just come here, Josie," Adam repeated gently.

Heaving a sigh, Josie rose from her little nest on the ground and plodded the few steps over to Adam, her blankets slung around her shoulders and her pillow clutched in her hand. Adam lifted one edge of his blanket, and as Josie lay down next to him, he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close against his chest. Pip ambled over and lay down in front of Josie, pressing up against her, so she had a warm body on each side. She rested her pillow on Adam's bottom arm and settled her head on it.

"Better?" he asked.

"Yeah," Josie mumbled, snuggling up to him.

"You know you don't have to prove anything to me."

Josie smiled, though she knew Adam couldn't see it. "I know."

"Goodnight, Little Sister."

"'Night, Older Brother."

The following day dawned clear and bright, and Josie awoke to find herself still wrapped snugly in Adam's arms, Pip snoring on her other side. She nuzzled her face into her pillow, not wanting to shake off the sleepiness just yet. The combined exhalations of Adam, Josie, and Pip had created a cocoon of warm air around the trio, and Josie found her burrow between Adam and Pip a most delightful and cozy place to be. She closed her eyes and dozed for another twenty minutes or so until she felt Adam stir next to her. He lifted his head a few inches, and Josie snickered at the mishmash of spidery lines his jacket sleeve had pressed into his left cheek overnight.

Adam, too, was reluctant to get moving. The morning air hadn't lost its sharp chill, and Josie's skinny body pressed up against his was quite toasty. He dropped his head back onto his arm, groaned, and pulled one of the blankets up over his face. "Five more minutes," he mumbled.

Josie giggled. "It's ok, Adam, you don't have to go to school today."

Adam smiled and threw back the blanket. "I need coffee!" Grinning, he and Josie both hauled themselves to their feet and stretched out the cold stiffness in their muscles. After a quick breakfast of oatmeal and, of course, coffee, they set off once more down the trail toward Sacramento.

Josie didn't try to be tough that night. When she and Adam bedded down after another long day in the saddle, she snuggled right up to him with Pip on her other side. Adam reached a hand across Josie and scratched the wolfhound's wiry head.

"I wonder how Fionn's coming along training Conall," he said.

Josie's face flushed at the mention of Fionn, and she was glad she was facing away from Adam. "I'm sure he's doing just fine," she replied as casually as she could.

"I bet the first thing he trains that dog to do is sniff you out." Adam snickered at his own cleverness, and Josie rolled over and glared at him. "What is it?" Adam asked, giving Josie his most innocent look. "Don't you want Fionn to be able to find you?"

"Fionn and I are just friends, thank you very much, and I'd appreciate it if you'd keep your nose out of it. Or next time you fall into a 'briar patch,' I might not be so quick with the salve."

The smug smirk that had been spreading across Adam's face vanished as he realized Josie had just bested him. "Sorry," he mumbled. "Just think you two would be cute together is all."

"Why do you even like Fionn so much?" Josie asked, rolling back onto her side to face Pip. "Simon never did anything inappropriate, and you hated him. Then Fionn comes along and practically attacks me, and suddenly he's your best friend."

Adam furrowed his brow, unable to explain himself. "I don't know, Josie," he admitted at last. "Maybe because Simon's so serious. You're serious enough on your own. Sorta like me. Must be a Stoddard trait." Adam paused to chuckle. "You laugh more with Fionn. You don't seem to worry about anything when he's around."

"That's like you with Molly."

Adam considered this, and the corners of his mouth twitched upward. He hadn't thought about it before, but Josie was right. Whenever he was with Molly, all his cares flew out the window. It was an odd sensation for him, but one that Adam wouldn't mind getting used to.

"So when are you gonna make an honest woman out of her?"

Adam's jaw dropped as Josie's comment shattered his daydream. "Man alive, Josie! Don't beat around the bush or anything!" Josie just giggled, and Adam sighed. "Can you keep a secret?" he asked.

"No."

There was a pregnant pause before Josie laughed again and rolled over onto her back, her head still resting on her pillow on Adam's arm. "You know I can!" she said. "I keep my patients' secrets all the time."

Adam's toyed with a loose strand of Josie's hair as he screwed up his courage. "Well, I know this is your birthday trip, but this is the last trip any of us will be able to make over the mountains before next spring, so I was hoping maybe you wouldn't mind too much if I slipped away one afternoon to do a little jewelry shopping."

Josie shrieked and rocketed from the ground, pouncing on Adam in a huge hug. The wind rushed out of him with a loud "Oof!" as Josie landed across his rib cage.

"Oh, sorry!" she said and rolled off of him. "Got a little excited."

"S'ok," Adam croaked, rubbing his ribs. He took a deep breath and turned to face Josie. "Josie, listen to me. You can't utter a word about this to anyone, all right? Not even in a letter to Michaela. I'm not going to ask Molly until after Hoss's wedding. I couldn't take the wind out of his sails like that."

"I won't," Josie promised, her face lighting up the night sky. Her glow faded, however, as another thought occurred to her. "Guess this means you'll be moving out, too." She rubbed her sleeve roughly across her eyes. "I've loved having everyone together in one house, and now our family's splitting up."

Adam slid his arm out from under Josie, propped himself up on that elbow, and looked down into the face of his treasured younger cousin. He knew her face almost as well as he knew his own. The jet-black hair, intelligent hazel eyes, and cute little nose that turned up just a tiny bit at the end. It was a face he'd loved since he was seventeen years old, and it pained him to see it so doleful. He realized this was the second time in less than three years that Josie was seeing her family split apart. While these circumstances were certainly happier than when her family had broken up due to the war, it was still another loss for her. Adam leaned over and kissed her forehead.

"Our family isn't splitting up, Josie, it's expanding. We have to have more houses. We're gonna need the space!"

Josie's eyes shot wide as the spark reignited within them. "Wait. Do you mean-?!"

Adam tweaked her nose like he used to do when Josie was a little girl. "No," he said definitively. "We've already had THAT embarrassing discussion. I just meant, you know, eventually."

"Oh. Darn."

Adam chuckled. "And I won't be far away, Josie. Just down by the lake, if I get my way. I'll still be up at Pa's house all the time, and you can come down to my place any time you like. I'll make sure there's a bedroom with windows on two sides, just for you."

Josie cracked a faint smile. "You promise?"

"I promise." He kissed her forehead again and lay back down, carefully sliding his arm back under Josie's head.

"Ok." Josie nuzzled her face into his chest and drew the blankets tightly around their shoulders. She didn't mind sharing Adam with Molly, but she was happy that at least for tonight, she had him all to herself. She inhaled deeply, breathing in Adam's familiar scents: his musky aftershave, leather from his long day in the saddle, a bit of sweat mixed with trail dust, and the faint smell of Hop Sing's laundry soap still clinging to his shirt. She smiled to herself, closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Adam and Josie spent their third day on the trail riding mostly downhill as they started making their way out of the mountains. When they stopped for lunch, Pip's nose shot up, and he started sniffing the air, a soft growl rumbling low in his throat. Adam and Josie pulled their rifles out of their saddle scabbards and kept them close while they ate, but their meal passed undisturbed. That afternoon, Adam spotted a set of mountain lion tracks near the trail and pointed them out to Josie.

"I bet that's what Pip smelled at lunch," he said.

Josie grinned. "D'ya think we can track it down on our way home, Adam?!"

"Oh, I bet we probably could," he replied with a wink.

Now that their elevation was so much lower, their third night was a good ten degrees warmer than the first two, but Josie slept cuddled up between Adam and Pip anyway. Hopeful as she was that she would see a mountain lion, the idea spooked her a little, too, and while she would never say so out loud, she felt a lot safer wrapped up in Adam's strong arms.

By midafternoon the fourth day, Adam, Josie, and Pip were trotting into Sacramento. Josie hadn't seen the city since she'd rolled through on the stagecoach a little over two years ago, and she was surprised by the changes the last two years had wrought. California's capital city had experienced devastating flooding in December 1861 and January 1862, and much of the city had had to be rebuilt on a higher grade. Adam pointed out the new levees along the river bank and launched into a detailed explanation of everything the city's engineers were doing to protect the city from the whims of the mercurial Sacramento River.

Adam knew Josie was eager to do some sight-seeing, but after four days on the trail, they were both ready for a bath and a proper meal, so he led them straight to Ebner's Hotel on K Street, neither of them noticing the open-mouthed stares they were receiving from the townspeople as they spotted the enormous wolf-like creature trotting placidly beside the young lady on the black Appaloosa. The thirty-six-room hotel had a cupola that towered over the other buildings in the city, and Adam and Josie had been able to spot it even before they reached the city's borders. Josie marveled at the towering blond-brick structure – it was the tallest building she'd seen since leaving Boston, and she'd almost forgotten what cities looked like. Adam reined to a stop outside the hotel, and he and Josie slid from their horses and stretched.

"Adam, I don't think I'm dressed properly to go inside," Josie said, staring up at the hotel.

Adam laughed as he untied his carpetbag from his saddle. "They're used to people rolling in off the trail," he assured her. "No one will say a word."

Josie untied her own carpetbag, and her medical bag, too, told Pip to stay put next to the horses, and followed Adam inside.

"Ah, Mr. Cartwright!" the clerk greeted them. The balding man with the wire-rimmed glasses darted out from behind the front desk to shake Adam's hand. "So good to see you again! And this must be your lovely cousin!" He beamed at Josie and kissed the back of her outstretched right hand. Josie felt a little ridiculous at this grand gesture, given that she was dressed in an old brown shirt she had swiped from Little Joe, a pair of jeans, and her boots, but she smiled at the man all the same.

"Yes, Dennis, may I present Dr. Josephine Cartwright, formerly of Washington City, now of the Ponderosa Ranch, Nevada Territory," Adam replied.

Dennis smiled at Josie. "It's a true pleasure, Dr. Cartwright. Your family has been patronizing our hotel for years, and I'm honored to finally meet the beautiful young lady I've heard so much about."

Josie blushed and thanked the man, who zipped back around the counter to retrieve a room key.

"As promised, Mr. Cartwright, the penthouse suite." He handed Adam the key with a low bow.

"Thank you, Dennis," Adam said. He turned to Josie and gestured toward the stairs. "Shall we?"

"What about the horses and Pip?" she asked.

"I'll take them all to the livery in a bit. Let's get you settled."

Josie grinned and let Adam take her carpetbag and lead her upstairs to the fourth and top floor. There was only one room, and Adam unlocked it, swung the door open, and nudged Josie inside.

Josie gasped when she saw the room. Their suite took up the entire fourth floor, and the door opened onto an opulent sitting room with vaulted ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows that flooded the room with sunlight that reflected off the tiled floor. Two Corinthian columns stood in front of the windows, which were draped with red velvet curtains. On the far side of the room was a towering fireplace with an ornately carved mantle. A burgundy-striped settee and two matching leather armchairs sat near the fireplace, and behind them was a small mahogany dining table. There was a bedroom door immediately to the right of the suite's front door, and another to the right of the fireplace. To the left of the fireplace was another door, which Adam said led to their washroom.

Josie turned to Adam and threw her arms around him. She fought tears as they embraced.

"You didn't have to do all this you know," she whispered.

Adam grinned and kissed the top of her head. "Happy birthday," was all he said.

Josie followed as Adam carried her carpetbag to the bedroom nearest the fireplace. Josie's room was every bit as luxurious as the sitting room. It boasted the same vaulted ceilings, tall windows, and rich curtains, and the massive bed, which Josie figured could have held all five Cartwrights with room to spare, was covered with a plush burgundy-and-gold-striped comforter. A little door next to the bed led directly into the washroom, which Josie was delighted to see boasted the same indoor plumbing as the ranch house on the Ponderosa.

Adam set her bag down on the floor next to the bed so it wouldn't get the comforter dusty. "Why don't you hang up your clothes and get a bath," he suggested. "I'll go get the horses and Pip bedded down at the livery."

"Do you think they'll take Pip?"

"They will. I already arranged it." Adam gave Josie another kiss on the crown of her head and headed out to take care of the livestock. By the time he returned, Josie was in the bathtub, sunken to her chin in hot water.

They had dinner that evening in the hotel's restaurant. Josie was glad that she had brought along her red calico dress. It was a bit wrinkled from being in her carpetbag for the last four days, but she didn't think anyone was looking closely enough to notice. Unbeknownst to her, her sapphire-blue evening gown was hanging, neatly pressed, in the wardrobe in Adam's bedroom, waiting to surprise her on her birthday two days later.

The next morning, the cousins treated themselves to a lie-in. They were wiped out after four days on the trail, and Josie thought she had never experienced anything as heavenly as lying wrapped up in the soft sheets on her bed's feather mattress. She was almost disappointed when Adam knocked on her door, but then she remembered they were visiting Elizabeth Pearson that day, and she sprang out of bed. She darted into the washroom, where she splashed some water on her face before scampering back into her bedroom to get dressed. She was glad that Adam had suggested they send some of their clothes to be pressed the previous afternoon, as she now pulled on her navy-blue skirt and favorite green blouse, both items wrinkle-free.

Josie was sitting in a velvet-covered armchair and buttoning her shoes when Adam knocked again, and Josie invited him in. He stepped into the room and smiled at her.

"Hungry?" he asked. He was wearing a clean pair of jeans and a crisp white shirt. He held his hat in one hand and already had his gun belted low around his hips.

"Sure am!" Josie replied with a grin. "Just give me one second." She got up and pulled her Derringer out of her carpetbag and strapped it to her right ankle. Dropping the hem of her skirt to conceal the weapon, she turned to Adam. "I'm ready!"

Adam chuckled and shook his head as he offered Josie his arm and led her downstairs to breakfast.

After a hearty breakfast of pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs, and, to Josie's delight, fresh oranges, the cousins headed out of the hotel and toward the livery stable to collect Pip. The wolfhound had never been left with strangers before, and he was so excited to see Adam and Josie that he pounced on Josie and knocked her onto the stable's straw-strewn floor, where he commenced drenching her face with his tongue.

"Pip! Stop it! Bad dog!" Josie protested, even as she shrieked with laughter. She tried to push him away, but Pip outweighed her by a good forty pounds; she may as well have been trying to budge Hoss. Adam wrapped his arms around Pip's chest and hauled him off of Josie.

"You all right?" he asked, still clinging to Pip while the stable boy offered Josie his hand and helped her to her feet.

"Yeah," Josie giggled as she brushed straw off of her clothes. Pip was struggling to get out of Adam's grasp, and Josie turned to the dog and ordered him to sit. Pip obeyed, and Adam released him and slowly stepped away, ready to tackle him if he tried to jump on Josie again. He glanced down at his chest and saw that his once-clean white shirt was now covered in rusty brown fur. He did his best to brush the dog hair off of himself, but Pip's wiry strands clung tightly to fabric, so there was only so much Adam could do.

Once they were certain that Pip had control of himself and Adam dropped a few coins into the stable boy's hand for feeding the dog, the trio set off down the street toward Elizabeth Pearson's house.

It was about a mile to Elizabeth's, and Josie's skin crawled as they strolled along. She glanced around and saw that the eyes of everyone on the street were locked on her and Adam. She nudged Adam in the ribs with her elbow.

"Why is everyone staring at us?" she muttered. "I don't have a hole in the back of my skirt, do I?"

Adam chuckled. "They're not staring at us, Josie. They're staring at Pip. I don't think the good people of Sacramento have ever seen a wolfhound before."

Josie followed the gazes of several of the gawking passersby and realized that Adam was right. While Virginia City's citizenry had had the better part of two years to get used to Pip, the sight of the three-foot-tall, 160-pound animal placidly following the slim, dark-haired young lady was quite unexpected in Sacramento. Josie smiled and ruffled Pip's fur, proud that she owned such a magnificent animal.

They walked along for another ten minutes before Adam steered them onto a side street lined with sycamore trees. The road was paved with red bricks and, Adam noticed, sat at a slightly higher elevation than the main part of town, so it had been spared from the flooding. About halfway down the street, Adam stopped them at the gate of a white picket fence, beyond which stood a handsome two-story house, also made of red bricks. Three large clay pots on the wide, covered front porch held the last of the summer's yellow daisies, and sailing back and forth on a wood-plank swing that hung from a low-hanging branch of a massive blue oak in the front yard was little Elizabeth Pearson.

Recognizing the child, Pip let out two excited yips, and the girl's head snapped around.

"Adam!" she shrieked. She leapt from the moving swing and soared through the air for a good ten feet before landing on both feet in the grass and tearing over to the gate.

"Hey, Elizabeth!" Adam called back as he pulled the gate open. He, Josie, and Pip had just enough time to get through the gate before Elizabeth reached them and launched herself into Adam's arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder.

"I missed you!" she snuffled as tears ran down her face.

Adam fought a rising lump in his throat as he clung to the child as if he would never let her go. "I missed you, too, kid."

Josie smiled through her own tears at the reunion as Pip ran circles around the group before nosing at Elizabeth's leg. The little girl squealed as Pip's cold, wet nose found a bare patch of skin on her calf, and Adam set her down so she could greet Pip and Josie. She gave Josie and Pip each a big hug and then grabbed Adam's hand and dragged him toward the house.

"Aunt Peggy! Aunt Peggy!" she called. "They're here! They're here!"

The blond woman the Cartwrights had last seen boarding a stage in Virginia City stepped out onto the porch and smiled when she spotted her niece hauling Adam Cartwright up the front walk with Josie and Pip right behind them.

"Adam, Josie, so good to see you again!" Peggy Stewart said as she clasped first Adam's hand and then Josie's. "And you, too, Pip!" Pip's tongue lolled out of his mouth as Peggy scratched his head. "Won't you please come in?" She ushered both humans and the canine into the house.

Once inside, Peggy's husband, Walter, greeted them, too. A California state senator, Walter had taken the day off from his duties at the capitol to visit with the people he credited with saving the life of his wife's niece. Indeed, even Elizabeth was getting a day off today. As it was a Tuesday, she should have been in school, but the Stewarts had decided that Adam and Josie's visit was well worth missing a day's classes.

Peggy tried to seat Adam and Josie in the parlor, but Elizabeth still had a death grip on Adam's hand and insisted on giving him a tour of the house. Chuckling, Adam had no choice but to follow Elizabeth as she led him all over the first floor, down into the cellar, and then all the way up to the second floor to see her bedroom. Josie and Pip followed along, Josie doing her best not to feel like she'd just won second prize at a county fair. She smiled, though, when she poked her head into Elizabeth's bedroom and saw the doll she'd bought her sitting in the place of honor in the center of the little girl's bed.

"This is how we know how big I'm getting," Elizabeth boasted, gesturing to three pencil marks on one wall. She pointed to the lowest one. "This is how tall I was when I moved in, and then this second one is from my birthday in February." Then she stabbed her finger at the highest mark, which sat about level with the top of her head. "And THIS is from the first day of school a few weeks ago!" She beamed at them.

"That's some pretty fine growing," Adam said.

"Yeah," Josie added. "You keep that up and you'll be as big as Hoss in no time!"

"I hope not!" Elizabeth said, and they all laughed.

"Come on," Adam said, picking her up. "Let's go back downstairs. I smelled cookies baking when I came in, and I'd like to have a few."

Adam carried Elizabeth downstairs, where they all sat in the parlor and refreshed themselves with lemonade and the sugar cookies Adam had detected. The Stewarts thanked them again for everything they'd done to pull Elizabeth through her bout with influenza the previous year and then asked polite questions about the Ponderosa and Virginia City. Elizabeth wasn't interested in the conversation, but she was content alternating between playing on the floor with Pip and curling up in Adam's lap, her head resting on his chest. After lunch, however, she'd had enough of the boring "adult talk" and grew restless. Familiar with squirming children after years of living with Little Joe, Adam suggested they go outside for a while. Elizabeth beamed at him and raced out the front door. Adam beckoned for Pip, who sprang to his feet and followed Adam outside.

"Would you like to go with them?" Peggy asked Josie. "I promise we won't think you rude."

Josie smiled at her and glanced out the front window to see Elizabeth already settling in her swing so Adam could push her.

"No, thank you," she said, returning her attention to the Stewarts. "Let them have some time together."

"Elizabeth speaks very highly of you, too, Dr. Cartwright," Walter said, refilling Josie's tea cup. He frowned as he saw that Adam had abandoned his untouched.

Josie grinned. "Oh, I'm sure she does. But I also know that no one can hold a candle to my Adam." The trio laughed and soon fell into conversation about the progress of the war back east.

Outside, Elizabeth was laughing as Adam pushed her in her swing.

"Higher, Adam! Higher!" she giggled.

"All right! Hold on!" Adam said and gave her a mighty shove. Elizabeth shrieked with joy as she soared so high that her toes brushed the leaves on the tree's lower branches.

After a few more good pushes and several hilarious minutes in which Elizabeth tried to push Adam in the swing, the pair collapsed in the shade of the oak tree and watched Pip chase a squirrel. Elizabeth sighed and nuzzled up next to Adam, resting her little head on his broad chest. She grabbed one of his hands and held her palm up to his and studied the difference in size. Adam could tell she was organizing her thoughts, so he stayed quiet as her skinny finger traced the heart line across the top of his palm.

"Aunt Peggy says someone bought my parents' farm," she said at last, her voice hardly more than a whisper.

"Yeah, someone did," Adam replied.

"Are they nice?"

"The nicest. Their names are Molly and Fionn. They're a brother and sister from Ireland. Molly even makes dresses, just like your ma did. She's got a shop in town and everything. Back in the spring, she made Josie the most beautiful dress you ever saw."

Elizabeth smiled at this. "Are they farmin' the land good?"

"Yeah, Fionn's doing a good job. He had quite the corn crop this summer, and it looks like his fall harvest is going to be a good one, too." Adam leaned in close to whisper in Elizabeth's ear. "Don't let Josie know I told you this, but I think Fionn's sweet on her."

Elizabeth clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles. "I bet Simon doesn't like that," she said.

"Oh," Adam said as he realized the seven-year-old wasn't up-to-date on Virginia City's gossip. "Simon and Josie aren't courting any more. They had an argument, and then Simon moved to San Francisco, and, well, things just didn't work out. That happens sometimes."

"That's too bad. I liked Simon."

"He was ok. I like Fionn better, though. He makes Josie laugh."

Elizabeth's green eyes lit up with sudden excitement. "Adam, do you think they'll get married like Hoss and Patience?!" The child had been over the moon when Adam told her about Hoss's engagement, and now it appeared she had weddings on the brain.

"Oh, goodness, I don't know. But can I tell you a secret?"

Elizabeth nodded excitedly.

"Well, after Hoss's wedding in a couple months, I'm gonna ask Molly to marry me."

The little girl squealed with joy, threw her arms around Adam's neck, and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. "Oh, Adam, can I come to your wedding?!"

Adam laughed and poked Elizabeth in the belly. "I haven't even asked her yet, you silly goose! But if she says yes, then I will absolutely invite you to the wedding."

Elizabeth squealed again and climbed into Adam's lap. "Can I tell you a secret, too?" she asked.

"Of course."

"Well, Aunt Peggy ain't tellin' anyone yet, but she's gonna have a baby next spring! I'm gonna have a little cousin just like you do!"

"Elizabeth, that's wonderful! And I promise I won't tell. But you know, it's a funny thing about cousins. Sometimes they're just cousins, but sometimes you get real lucky, and they're actually like a brother or sister."

"Like you and Dr. Cartwright?"

"Exactly."

"You think my cousin will be a little brother or sister?" Elizabeth asked.

"Seeing as how you'll be raised together in the same house by the same people, I would bet so."

Elizabeth smiled and rested her head on Adam's chest, and the pair of them sat together in the shade of the oak tree until Peggy called them inside for supper.

Adam and Josie said a tearful goodbye to Elizabeth that evening after supper. Adam had to promise the little girl five times that he would invite her to the wedding, and he made her promise to write to him.

"You're seven years old and going to school," he said. "You should start writing letters."

Elizabeth promised she would and then buried her face in her aunt's skirt while Adam, Josie, and Pip turned and walked away. Halfway down the street, Adam turned around for a last glance.

"Kid gets under your skin, doesn't she?" he said.

"She sure does," Josie agreed.

Adam thought he detected a faint smirk on his cousin's face. "What are you so smug about?"

"Oh, nothing," Josie replied, still smirking. "When did you want to go ring shopping?"

Adam cut his eyes to her. "Well, not tomorrow. Not on your birthday. Maybe Thursday?"

"Thursday sounds good. What are we doing tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow is a surprise," Adam said with a grin. He gave Josie a wink and would say no more.

Adam let Josie sleep until 8:30 the next morning before he knocked on her bedroom door. He smiled when he heard her mumbled "Come in," and he stepped into the room to see nothing but a spray of black hair spilling out from the top of the covers on Josie's bed. He stepped across the room to the side of Josie's bed and threw back the blankets.

"Hey there, sleepyhead," he said, grinning down at her.

Josie's eyes screamed as daylight poured into them, and she flung one arm across her face. "Hey yourself," she grumbled, sticking her tongue out at Adam.

"Happy birthday."

Josie cracked open one hazel eye and gave Adam a smile. "Thanks."

"Get up," Adam said, tossing her a dressing gown from the wardrobe. "Breakfast is here."

"Here?"

"Yep, here." Adam reached down and tweaked her nose. "I had it sent up. So hurry! The coffee's getting cold!" As he left the room, Josie swung her legs out of bed and wrapped up in the dressing gown Adam had given her. She stuffed her feet into a pair of slippers, also provided by the hotel, and scurried out to the sitting room, combing her fingers through her long, dark hair as she went.

Adam was waiting next to their dining table, now heavily laden with coffee, doughnuts, a huge bowl of fruit salad, a towering stack of pancakes, a vat of steaming oatmeal, and a small cauldron of scrambled eggs. He, of course, was already dressed in a pair of jeans and a red shirt.

"Holy smokes," Josie breathed, surveying the spread. "Are we supposed to be able to eat all of this?"

"I don't think so," Adam said with a little chuckle. "We'd be hard-pressed even if we had Hoss here. I just wasn't sure what you'd want, so I ordered some of everything."

Josie shook her head as Adam pulled her chair out for her and she sat down. When Adam sat down across from her, she laughed as she realized she couldn't see him around the huge stack of pancakes. She grabbed her fork and plunged it into the top two flapjacks and dropped them onto her plate. Adam laughed, too, as he saw what was so funny, and he grabbed two pancakes of his own.

"Hey, I can see the top of your head now!" he called over the food.

Josie giggled. "Keep talking, Adam! It's the only way I can tell where you are!"

The cousins revealed each other bit by bit as they ate their way through breakfast. At long last, they leaned back in their chairs, unable to stuff in another bite.

"Whew!" Josie exclaimed, patting her stomach. "I won't need to eat again for a week!" She wondered why this comment caused Adam to look mildly alarmed, but as quickly as the expression had crossed his face, it vanished again.

"We may at least skip lunch, that's for sure," he said. The grandfather clock struck nine, and Adam sat up straight. "You better get dressed. We don't want to be late."

"Late for what?"

"Never you mind what," Adam said with a grin. "Just be ready in thirty minutes."

"What should I wear?"

"You're asking _me_?"

Josie laughed and scooted into her room. Thirty minutes later, she re-emerged in her red calico day dress with her hair hanging in a neat braid down the middle of her back. Someone had cleared away the breakfast dishes while she'd been dressing, and the table now sported only a lace doily and a vase of fresh red roses.

"Ready?" Adam asked. Josie smiled, accepted Adam's proffered arm, and let him lead her out of their room and down the stairs.

Josie hoped they would stop at the livery stable to collect Pip, and she was a little disappointed when Adam turned them down the street in the opposite direction. They walked for a mile and a half until they reached the river, where Adam steered them toward a dock where a huge white riverboat was moored, water lapping gently against its red paddlewheel. Josie's eyes lit up, and she gazed hopefully at Adam.

"Dr. Cartwright, may I present the _Delta King_ , _"_ Adam said with a flourish of his arm.

"Are we going aboard?!" Josie squealed.

"Of course. I thought you might like a little river cruise of Sacramento."

Josie flung her arms around Adam and gave him a big hug. "I'd love it!"

Adam grinned, pried Josie's arms free from his waist, and led her up the ramp onto the boat. Once on board, he extracted two tickets from his shirt pocket and handed these to the waiting crewman.

"Thank you, sir," the man said. "Right this way." He pointed them to a viewing area on the top deck, where Adam and Josie found seats on a bench amongst two dozen or so other passengers. Ten minutes later, the ship's captain blew the horn, and the _Delta King_ shoved away from the dock and nosed its way to the middle of the river. Josie sprang to her feet and leaned against the deck rail. Adam joined her, and together they watched Sacramento slip by. As they sailed along, crewman circulated amongst the passengers, pointing out landmarks, including the abandoned Sutter's Fort and the rising California Capitol Building.

"Pa's friend John Sutter established that fort," Adam told Josie. "It's been deserted since I came home from college, though. Once they discovered gold near Sutter's Mill about fifty miles northeast of here, everybody left."

Josie especially liked seeing the incomplete state capitol building, which was modeled directly after the federal Capitol Building in Washington, DC.

"It looks like home," she sighed.

Adam knew Josie considered the Ponderosa to be her home now, but it made sense that she would long for the city of her childhood, especially since it still represented her father. He threaded his arm around her waist and pulled her close to his side as they continued to watch the city sail by.

At noon, a dinner bell let out a loud clang, and the crewmen ushered everyone down one level to the dining salon. Lunch was light – salads and chicken breasts with a small dish of ice cream for dessert – a fact for which Josie and Adam were grateful, as they were both still rather full from their enormous breakfast. As everyone ate in the tall-windowed salon, the boat made a large u-turn and headed back for the dock. Shortly after 1:30, Josie and Adam touched back down on dry land to walk back to the Ebner.

"Thank you for that," Josie said, giving Adam's arm a squeeze. "That was wonderful!"

"You're very welcome." Adam smiled down at her. He very nearly opened his mouth to tell her about dinner, but bit his tongue at the last second, not wanting to give away the surprise just yet.

They arrived back at their hotel suite by two o'clock, and Josie announced that if Adam had no other plans for a while, then she was going to take a nap.

"Good idea," Adam agreed. "I have to run out for a minute, but I won't be long. You rest up for this evening." He gave her a wink and darted out the door before she could ask any more questions.

"What are we doing this evening?" Josie called after him, but Adam was already gone.

Josie returned to her bedroom, loosened her hair from its braid, stripped to her shift, and climbed under the soft sheets of her bed. Sighing happily, she drifted off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

An hour later, Adam opened the main door to their suite just far enough for him to stick his head in to make sure Josie wasn't in the sitting room. She wasn't, so Adam darted inside and slid into his bedroom, just in case Josie emerged, and he laid the gift he'd just purchased for her on his bed. It was actually Josie's gift from Ben, who had slipped Adam the money for it before they left the Ponderosa, but Adam was glad he'd gotten to pick it up. Ben had ordered it a couple months ago, right after Adam had announced his plan to take Josie to Sacramento. Now Adam stood admiring the brand-new rifle Ben had chosen for Josie. It was a good choice, Adam thought, looking down at the gleaming black barrel and polished walnut stock, and he thought he might need to save up some money to get one for himself. It was a Henry Repeating Rifle – a .44-caliber breechloader that had been patented only three years earlier. Like the other Cartwrights, Josie rode with a single-shot Sharps in her saddle scabbard, but this rifle was a sixteen-shooter – seventeen, actually, if you had a round already loaded in the chamber. Adam didn't know anyone in Nevada who had one of the new repeating rifles, and he liked the idea of Josie having more shots than anyone she'd ever encounter. Not that she needed them, Adam thought, smiling to himself. Between the rifle and her Colt revolver, Josie would have twenty-three shots when she was fully loaded, which in Josie's case meant she could take down twenty-three assailants – more than that if Pip came into play. Adam nearly laughed aloud.

"Don't tangle with my sister," he chuckled. He picked up the rifle and tucked it out of sight in his wardrobe.

Adam read in the sitting room for an hour until he heard a light knock on the main door. He opened it and greeted the lady's maid he had asked the concierge to send up to help Josie get ready for their evening.

"My sister's still asleep," he told the young lady. "Let me wake her up." He stepped over to Josie's door and knocked. Receiving no reply, he cracked the door open. "Josie? Time to wake up, kid."

Josie's eyes fluttered open, and she almost sprang out of bed before she remembered she was wearing only her shift. She yanked the covers up to her chin.

"Where we goin?" she yawned as she rubbed her eyes with one hand.

"Dinner. Put your dressing gown on and come out to the sitting room for a minute." He closed the door to give her some privacy.

Josie raised an eyebrow but did as Adam requested. A minute later, she was stepping out into the sitting room.

"My sister, Dr. Josephine Cartwright," Adam said to the lady's maid. "Josie, this is… Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't get your name."

"That's all right, sir," the young lady said, blushing as she smiled at Adam. "It's Adele, sir."

"Josie, this is Adele," Adam said. "She's here to help you get ready."

Josie was flabbergasted. "I appreciate that, Adam, but I haven't got anything with me that's fancy enough to require help."

"Yes, you do." Adam grinned and darted into his bedroom. He returned with Josie's blue silk gown draped over his arm. Adele gasped at the sight of the beautiful gown, and Josie's jaw dropped in surprise.

"That's my dress!" she exclaimed. "You stole my dress!"

"You steal my books all the time," Adam replied. He gave her a peck on the cheek as he handed her the gown. "Hang on, I've got more for you." He returned to his bedroom and grabbed Ben's small trunk that held Josie's delicates, which Molly had wrapped discretely in newspaper, along with Josie's black silk dancing slippers. He carried this into Josie's bedroom and set it on the bed. "Molly packed this for you," he explained. "Have fun, ladies! We'll leave for the restaurant in two hours." Giving Josie a wink, he returned to the sitting room, plopped down in an overstuffed armchair, and returned to his reading.

Still stunned, Josie followed Adele into her bedroom. Two hours later, she emerged, clad in her sapphire silk gown, which was a bit looser in some places than she remembered. She hadn't realized until then how much she had leaned out during her time on the Ponderosa. Her arms, once soft and round were now hard and muscular, her biceps standing out in little lumps above her elbows. Adele had put her hair up in a woven chignon with a tendril of hair left loose to curl on each side of her face. Now dressed in his best suit, which he had sent ahead of them with Josie's gown, Adam leapt to his feet and crossed the room to Josie.

"You look beautiful," he said, kissing her cheek. He thanked Adele and slipped some money into her hand.

"Thank you," Josie replied. "Are you ever going to tell me where we're going?"

"A place called Annabelle's. Finest restaurant in Sacramento – in most of California for that matter. Excellent food and excellent dancing, too."

Josie's face lit up, though her hand flew to her back collarbone, and she frowned. "I wish I could have gotten my locket fixed. I really should have a necklace."

Adam grinned. "I can help you there." He turned and took a long, slim box off the coffee table. He handed it to Josie. "Happy birthday, Little Sister."

Josie eyed him as she accepted the box and pulled open the lid. She gasped when she saw the diamond necklace inside. She lifted it in one trembling hand and examined the diamond-encrusted daisies that linked together to form the chain. "Adam, oh my goodness," she said, her voice thick. "You shouldn't, I mean, I can't believe that you-" She broke off as she could no longer force words around the lump in her throat. She threw her arms around Adam in a tight hug. "Thank you," she sniffled.

Adam took a step back and kissed her forehead. "You're welcome. I spotted it when Hoss and I were shopping for Patience's engagement ring, and I couldn't bear the thought of it being around the neck of anyone but you. Let's see how it looks." He took the necklace from Josie's hand and clasped it behind her neck. Josie stepped over to the mirror next to the door and admired the beautiful jewels now sparkling on her clavicle.

"Thank you," she whispered again.

"Anything for my little sister. Would you like your gift from Pa, too, before we go?"

Josie turned and stared at Adam. "Don't tell me you shipped Uncle Ben ahead in a trunk, too!"

Adam laughed. "No, but he ordered your gift in advance. I picked it up this afternoon while you were napping."

"All right, then."

Adam zipped into his bedroom and returned with the rifle. Josie's eyes lit up when she saw the weapon.

"Wow!" she exclaimed. "That's what I call a beautiful firearm!" She snatched it from Adam's hands, checked that it was unloaded, and examined it with an expert eye. "Oh, holy smokes! This is a repeater!"

"Yep!" Adam confirmed. "One of the new Henry repeating rifles. You'll have the first one in Nevada, I expect. There aren't even very many soldiers in the war with these."

Josie ran a hand down the gleaming barrel and stock and then broke it open to check out the chamber. She let out a low whistle. "Now I can't wait to get back into the mountains to do some hunting!"

Adam chuckled. "All in good time, Little Sister, all in good time. Right now, we've got dinner reservations." He took the rifle back from Josie and laid it on the settee. Then, offering her his arm, he escorted her out the door and down to the street toward Annabelle's.

Josie fought happy tears all evening as she and Adam dined and danced in high style. Despite its location in the center of what was, essentially, still a frontier town, Annabelle's rivaled the finest establishments in Boston, and for a few hours, Josie felt like a little girl again, sweeping around on the arm of her college-age cousin. The musicians favored waltzes that night, and Adam and Josie danced so long they grew hungry again, so they returned to their table for thick slices of white cake. When the evening finally wound down and the musicians had played their final number, Adam and Josie swept out of the restaurant, still laughing and breathless from all their dancing.

Adam strolled slowly down the street back toward the Ebner to give Josie's aching feet a little break – it had been more than two years since she'd spent this much time in her dancing slippers, and she knew she had blisters on her toes. But she didn't care. All that mattered was that she was with Adam on a fine, cool evening in Sacramento. Tonight they were celebrating her birthday, and tomorrow, they would search for an engagement ring for Molly. Josie couldn't have been happier.

As they walked, they kept each other in stitches with old jokes and stories. Adam especially enjoyed Josie's recounting of how hard Chief Winnemucca had laughed when Josie had admitted to him that she'd left Pip with Fionn when she and Joe tried to cross Lake Tahoe because they'd been afraid the large dog would tip the canoe.

"Aw, poor Pip!" Adam said, wiping tears from his eyes. "We'll have to bring him along tomorrow. He's probably pining away for you in that livery stable."

Josie frowned. "Oh, I hadn't thought of that. Maybe we should go check on him."

Adam glanced down at his suit and Josie's silk gown and thought back to Pip's reaction when they'd picked him up the previous morning. "I'm sure he's all right, Josie. I wouldn't want to disturb the stable boy this late anyway."

As they continued down the street, shouting and boisterous laughter emanated from a saloon a few yards ahead. Adam wanted to cross the street to keep Josie away from the obviously drunken men, but there was no sidewalk on the other side; he and Josie would have to walk through the mud. Sighing, he quickened his pace, hoping they could zip by quickly enough that Josie wouldn't have to endure any catcalls. Josie cast the saloon a sidelong glance as they passed, and both cousins sighed in relief when they got past without incident.

They were several feet beyond the saloon when two men burst out and staggered down the sidewalk toward them. Adam didn't have time to pull Josie aside before the shorter of the two men smacked into her from behind, nearly knocking her to the ground. Adam caught her around the waist and made sure she was all right before turning to the two men, who were continuing down the sidewalk as if nothing had happened. Enraged, Adam caught up to them in three long strides, grabbed the short man's arm, and spun him around.

"Hey, mister, you need to watch where you're going!" he snarled. "You nearly knocked my sister over, and you owe her an apology."

The man's companion – a skinny fellow with flaming red hair – quailed a bit at Adam's anger, but the shorter man just eyed him with a cool contempt. "Easy there, hothead," he slurred in a deep voice, blasting Adam with hot breath that reeked of cheap whiskey. "That kinda temper's gonna get you in trouble."

"Not as much trouble as it's gonna get you," Adam replied, his right hand resting on his gun. The red-haired man's hand drifted toward his own weapon, and Josie dashed wide-eyed over to her cousin. She laid her hand on Adam's arm that still clutched the short man's shirt.

"Adam, come on, they're not worth it. Let's just go."

The short man leered, revealing a set of broken and rotten teeth. "Listen to your little sister," he sneered. "We outgun you."

Adam saw Josie reach for her right ankle, and he let the short man go. He knew Josie was going for her Derringer to prove the man wrong, but his pride wasn't worth drawing her into a gunfight. "You're right, Josie. Let's go." He gave the man a little shove to clear the sidewalk, and then he took Josie's arm and guided her past the red-haired man and down the street.

"Wise choice, Hothead!" the short man hooted after him.

"Yeah, you better watch yourself!" the red-haired man added.

Adam's shoulders stiffened, but his bit his lip and did not reply. He was still steaming when they returned to their suite. Josie studied his face in the lamplight of their sitting room. She almost giggled at how much he looked like Little Joe when he was angry – something about the set of the jaw and the flash in the eyes. She laid a hand on his cheek. "Adam, they were just a couple of drunks. Don't let them ruin what's left of the evening, ok?"

Adam's eyes softened as he gazed down at Josie. "Ok," he said, drawing a deep breath to try to slow the adrenaline still coursing through his veins.

Josie smiled. "Thank you. Go change out of your suit. I'll order up some warm milk."

Adam did as he was told, and only minutes after he returned to the sitting room in his nightshirt, dressing gown, and slippers, a butler arrived at their door with two mugs of steaming milk, sprinkled with cinnamon. Josie appeared moments later, also clad in pajamas and a dressing gown, and after moving Josie's new rifle to an armchair, the cousins sat together on the settee and sipped their drinks.

"So," Josie began, tucking her bare feet up under the skirt of her nightgown. "Where do you want to start shopping tomorrow?

Adam grinned, all traces of his anger gone, and he and Josie spent the next thirty minutes planning out a route that would take them past a bookstore, an apothecary, and two jewelers. When the grandfather clock struck one a.m., Josie stretched and wished Adam a good night.

"Thank you so much for today," she whispered as she hugged him tightly. "This was the best birthday I've ever had. I'll remember this for the rest of my life."

Adam smiled and kissed the crown of her head. "Me, too. Now off to bed with you! Your father would have my hide if he knew I was keeping you up so late."

Josie pulled back and gave him a cheeky grin. "Wasn't the first time, and I'm sure it won't be the last," she quipped. She stretched up on tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "Good night, Older Brother. I love you."

"I love you, too, Josie."

Adam laughed as Josie grabbed her rifle off the armchair and took it with her into her bedroom. Shaking his head, he blew out the lamps and retired to his own room.

Despite their late night, Josie and Adam were both up before 8 o'clock the next morning. Josie chose a comfortable skirt and shirtwaist for the day, and at the last minute tossed her shoes aside and pulled on her boots instead. They were more comfortable than any of her other footwear, and after last night's dancing, she couldn't stand the thought of squeezing her blistered toes into her dainty shoes. After a quick breakfast in the hotel's restaurant, the pair set off to the livery stable to collect Pip before they started their shopping.

Pip was even more excited to see Adam and Josie than he had been two mornings ago, but Josie was ready for him this time and braced herself against Adam so she wouldn't tumble to the ground. Reunited, the trio set off down the street toward the first jewelry shop.

As soon as Adam began perusing the selection, he understood why Hoss had had such a difficult time finding a ring for Patience. The rings on display were pretty, but none of them was quite right. He wanted to get her something fancier than a plain gold band, but it needed to be practical as well – he didn't want Molly to leave her ring at home for fear the gemstone would snag on the fabric as she sewed. For the most part, Josie left him be while he scrutinized the displays, only occasionally drawing his attention to something that caught her eye. She spent most of their time in the jeweler's trying to contain a fit of giggles over her cousin's mounting despair – even by Adam's standards he was being picky. When she saw a vein begin to throb in his temple, she grabbed his arm and suggested they take a break and look at the bookshop. The books did little to lift Adam's mood, and he began to worry that, like Hoss before him, he would have to search every jewelry shop in town to find the right ring.

As Adam and Josie stepped into the second jeweler's just before lunch, Adam took a deep breath and steeled himself for another round of disappointment. The jeweler rushed to greet them, and as Adam tried to describe what he was looking for – a difficult task considering he wasn't entirely sure what that was – Josie ambled over to the display case and peeked in.

"Adam!" she shrieked. She dashed back to Adam, grabbed his arm, and dragged him over to the case. She jabbed a finger at the glass so hard Adam thought it a miracle the surface didn't shatter. "Look!"

Adam nudged Josie's finger out of the way, and his jaw dropped. Sitting in the case was a delicate gold Claddagh ring. A tiny pair of golden hands clasped a heart, atop which perched a crown in the traditional Irish symbol of friendship, love, and loyalty. Rather than being plain gold, the heart was filled with a gleaming emerald. Adam whirled around to face Josie, took her face in his hands, and planted a big kiss on her forehead.

"You are a goddess, and I adore everything about you," he said.

"Wow! Ok!" Josie giggled.

Adam turned back to the display case. "It even matches her necklace," he breathed, still awed.

"Maybe you'll get another big thank-you," Josie quipped and pitched into a fit of laughter.

Adam ignored her smart comment and glanced up at the jeweler, who was already taking the Claddagh out of the case. He handed it to Adam, who held it up to the light. Josie pawed at his arm, trying to get him to lower his hand so she could see the ring better, too. When Adam didn't budge, Josie stood on tiptoe and craned her neck upwards.

"It's perfect," Adam said. "How much?"

"One hundred dollars," the jeweler replied.

Still staring at the ring, Adam groped for his billfold with his free hand. He pulled it from his back pocket and handed it to Josie without looking at her. "Pay him, would you, please?"

Now Josie was stunned. Adam hadn't even tried to negotiate! "Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yup."

Josie shrugged, pulled five twenty-dollar bills from Adam's wallet, and handed them to the jeweler. "Where did you even get a Claddagh?" she asked. "I've never seen one in a shop outside of Boston."

"Bought it from a fellow jeweler in San Francisco a couple months back," the man replied. "He wasn't having any luck selling it, but I liked its uniqueness."

"Wonder where he got it," Josie mused.

"Oh, you know all those immigrants that go through San Francisco," the jeweler said. "Probably bought it off a family down on their luck." He plucked the ring from Adam's fingers and tucked it into a box for him. "Will there be anything else, sir?"

"No, thank you." Adam clutched the ring box so hard his knuckles turned white.

"Adam, would you like me to put that in my handbag?" Josie asked. They still had plans to go out to lunch and then do a little more shopping, and Josie was worried Adam would lose all circulation to his fingers if he kept clenching the box like that.

"No, I've got it."

"Adam."

Adam sighed and placed the box in Josie's outstretched hand. She put it in her bag, and the two of them headed for a café for lunch. After their meal, they spent the rest of the day wandering in and out of various shops, not looking for anything in particular, but enjoying their perusal of a bright array of items they typically didn't see in Virginia City. At the confectioner, Josie purchased a small box of chocolate Belgian truffles. Adam smiled; Josie had always had an insatiable sweet tooth.

"You better eat those before we get home," he said. "If Hoss sees them, you're in trouble."

Josie blushed. "Oh, well, uh, these are for a, um, a friend."

Adam pursed his lips, trying not to smile. "And would this friend happen to have brown eyes and an Irish accent?"

Josie stuck her tongue out at him. "None of your business."

Adam chuckled and led her back to the street. With Pip trotting behind them, the cousins headed back to their hotel.

After dinner that evening, Adam took Josie to the theater, where they laughed their way through a delightful performance of "The Taming of the Shrew." Afterward, as they made their way back to their hotel, Adam asked Josie what she'd like to do the following day.

"We could do more shopping, or go sight-seeing," he suggested.

Josie thought for a moment, and her mind drifted to the shiny new rifle in her bedroom at the Ebner. "Actually, Adam, please don't think I haven't had a wonderful time here in Sacramento, because I have!"

"But…" Adam prompted.

"But do you think we could go after that mountain lion whose tracks we saw on the way here? I'm just dying to try out that new gun!"

Adam threw back his head and laughed. "Absolutely! Extra day of hunting is never a bad idea."

They packed up their things that night, returning Josie's silk gown and Adam's suit to the small trunk and everything else to their carpetbags. Josie was glad she had left a bit of space in hers; she had plenty of room for Fionn's chocolates and her new necklace. Into her medical bag went the bottles of onion syrup, paregoric, and camphor that she had purchased at the apothecary. She went to sleep that night and dreamt of mountain lions.

The cousins woke early the next morning and went down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. They were surprised to see the restaurant abuzz at such an early hour, and Adam asked their waiter what all the excitement was about.

"Some men robbed the First Bank of Sacramento last night!" the young man told them. "Made away with ten thousand dollars!"

Adam shook his head and let out a low whistle while Josie shuddered. "That isn't near here, is it?" she asked.

"No, miss, it's on the other side of town. Sheriff put out posters already of the men who did it. We've got one outside."

After a quick breakfast, Josie and Adam left the hotel to collect the horses and Pip, and they paused outside to look at the wanted poster. They both gasped when they saw the sketches of the robbers.

"Adam!" Josie exclaimed. "Adam, those are the men who bumped into us the other night!"

Adam nodded, his eyes still fixed on the sketches of the tall, red-haired man and the short one with the squashed-looking face. "They really were no good, weren't they?" he muttered.

"Look at this, Adam!" Josie pointed to the final line underneath the men's descriptions. "'Believed to be heading east over the mountains.' Guess we'll have to keep a lookout for them."

"I doubt it," Adam replied. "It's a pretty big mountain range, and they won't want to do anything to draw attention to themselves."

Josie nodded and followed Adam to the livery stable, her grip on her new rifle just a little bit tighter than it had been.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

The cousins were well out of town by the time lunch rolled around, and by suppertime, they were beginning their ascent into the Sierra Nevada. Though their elevation was still pretty low, there was no denying that autumn was here and winter was on the way, and Josie, Adam, and Pip slept bundled up together. It was raining the next morning, and everyone woke up damp but in good spirits. As Adam pointed out, the wet ground would make it easier for them to find tracks. Sure enough, by that afternoon, they had picked up the mountain lion's tracks and were hunting him down, deeper and deeper into the mountains.

The sun came back out on the third day of their excursion, and Adam and Josie enjoyed the chance to dry out. Adam said he thought they were closing in on their prey; the big cat's tracks were much fresher now, and Pip had obviously picked up on a scent because his nose was constantly on the ground. They were pretty high up in the mountains now, though still in the tree line, and Adam felt happier and more relaxed than he had for a long time. He was with his little sister in the clear mountain air, they were mere hours away from bagging a mountain lion, and he had an engagement ring for Molly in his carpetbag. He grinned to himself and urged Sport on a little faster.

They stopped for lunch at a stream, where they refilled their canteens and let the horses rest, and Adam said he thought they'd have a shot at the mountain lion before nightfall.

"Don't forget that I get the first shot," Josie said.

"I would never."

In the late afternoon, as Adam and Josie rounded a bend on the deer trail they were following, a brown blur shot out of the trees and darted in front of Scout, brushing the horse's front legs. The Appaloosa reared in terror, launching Josie backward. Adam pulled back on his reins to keep Sport from bolting, and he snatched out a hand and caught hold of Scout's bridle as Pip darted away after the creature that had frightened Josie's horse. Adam shouted for the dog to come back as he jumped off of Sport, wrapped both horses' reins around a nearby tree branch, and tore back down the trail toward Josie, who lay motionless on the rocky ground.

Terrified, Adam dropped to the ground next to his cousin, who laid face-down in the dirt. "Josie!" he hollered. He rolled her onto her back and nearly cried with relief when her eyes fluttered open and focused on him.

"Uuurrrrrggghhh," Josie moaned. "Have I ever mentioned how much I hate horses?"

Adam laughed and gently wiped some dirt from her face. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I think so. What the hell was that?!"

"A coyote, I think. What was it, Pip? A coyote?"

Pip had trotted back when Adam called for him, and he now sat next to Josie, peering at her intently as if making a diagnosis. Josie grabbed hold of Adam with one hand and Pip with the other and hauled herself to her feet. She was covered in trail dust from head to toe, and the left knee of her jeans was ripped open, the skin beneath gashed and bleeding. Josie glanced down and sighed.

"I better clean that up," she said.

"Yeah," Adam agreed, grateful that the damage wasn't worse. "Tell you what. There's a stream just on the other side of those trees. Why don't you and Pip go bandage up your leg? I'll take the horses back to that little clearing we passed a few minutes ago. It's less than a quarter mile. I'll start setting up camp."

"What about the mountain lion?"

"That cat won't go much farther today. We can catch him tomorrow."

Josie agreed and took her medical bag and new rifle off of Scout, whistled for Pip, and set off for the stream. Adam frowned as he watched her limp on that left leg, but it didn't seem too bad, so he mounted back up on Sport, grabbed Scout's reins, and made his way back to the clearing.

Firewood was plentiful in the area, and within a few minutes of reaching the clearing, Adam had gathered enough to keep a fire going all night. He guessed it was only about four o'clock, but the days were growing shorter, and it was already getting chilly. He crouched down, struck a match, and reached into his neat stack of logs to light the kindling when the familiar "click!" of a revolver being cocked behind him froze him in place.

"Put your hands where we can see 'em!" a deep voice bellowed.

Adam swallowed hard as he dropped the match and stretched his hands out to his sides, being careful to keep his right hand well clear of the Remington on his hip.

"Turn around! Slow!" the voice ordered.

Adam stood up and turned slowly around, his face a mask of loathing.

"Well!" the deep-voiced man exclaimed, sounding positively delighted. "If it ain't the hothead!"

Adam glared back at the man who had knocked into Josie four nights earlier. The shorter man – the one with the deep voice – had a .45 leveled at Adam's chest, while the red-haired man stood nearby, one hand holding the reins of a dark bay horse, and the other hovering over the grip of his own still-holstered revolver.

"Evening, gentlemen," Adam said, his hands still spread wide. "Have fun robbing the First Bank of Sacramento?"

The red-haired man snorted. "Ain't you just the funny one?"

"Eli!" the shorter man barked. "Take the hothead's gun."

The red-haired man obeyed, approaching Adam slowly and snatching his Remington from its holster. "Didn't we tell you to watch yourself?" he sneered. The man's hot breath was sour, and Adam turned his face away. He never even saw Eli raise his hand, and he jumped backward in surprise as a sharp crack set his left cheek aflame. "You look at me when I'm talkin' to you, boy!" Eli snarled.

"Easy now, Eli," the shorter man said. "Don't go roughing him up just yet. Not until we get some information."

Eli pouted. "All right, George," he grumbled.

"What sort of information do you expect to get from me?" Adam demanded.

George stepped over to Adam, keeping his gun aimed directly at Adam's heart. "For starters, where's that cute little sister of yours? She's a pretty little thing, despite the family resemblance. I'd kinda like to see her again."

Adam's eyes flashed, but he was relieved – clearly, these men hadn't spotted Josie's tracks heading toward the stream. He prayed Josie would take her time cleaning up her knee. If he played his cards right, he might be able to get these men to take what they wanted and clear out before she returned.

"She isn't here," Adam said. "She lives in Sacramento. I was visiting her for her birthday."

George waved his free hand in Scout's direction. "Who's the Appaloosa for, then? Awfully small horse for a fella your size. But just about right for a little lady."

Adam didn't flinch. "That's my packhorse."

"Liar!" George screamed as he jabbed the muzzle of his gun into Adam's belly. "Nobody saddles a packhorse! Now where is she?!" He reached up and grabbed a fistful of Adam's hair, yanking his head to one side at the same time he swept Adam's feet out from under him with a well-placed kick. Adam crashed to the dirt and saw stars as his head bounced off the ground. "Tie him up, Eli!"

Eli snatched two lengths of rope off his horse's saddle and trotted back to where Adam lay next to his would-be campfire. He wrenched Adam's arms behind his back and cinched them together, the ropes cutting into Adam's flesh. Bile rose in Adam's throat as his memory flashed back to being bound to a pole of Peter Kane's lean-to the previous summer. His heart and breathing quickened, and he fought to control his fear as Eli bound his ankles.

"Relax, Cartwright," he told himself. "You're not alone this time. Josie's out there. And even if these men take everything you have, there's plenty of food and water here in the mountains. It's a long walk back to Sacramento, but it's possible."

This calmed him enough that he was able to ask "What do you want?"

George grinned, revealing those rotten and broken teeth of his. "A horse, first of all. And those are a couple of fine animals you got over there, Hothead." He gestured toward Sport and Scout. "See, my horse broke a leg a few miles back, and Eli and I can't very well outrun the law with only one horse between us."

"So take the horses and go."

"Oh, we will, don't you worry about that," George said, kneeling on the ground so he could lean into Adam's face. "But we're also gonna relieve you of any valuables you might have, as payment for you being so unfriendly the other night." He grabbed a handful of dirt and flung it into Adam's eyes before joining Eli at the horses, leaving Adam writhing on the ground as his bound hands futilely tried to reach for his eyes. Tears streamed down his face as his eyes tried to wash out the dirt.

It was several minutes before Adam's vision cleared enough for him to see George searching his saddlebags while Eli dug through his carpetbag. Adam had spent most of his cash in Sacramento, so George came away with only twenty dollars when he found Adam's wallet, but Eli discovered the box containing Molly's engagement ring. Excited, he handed it to George.

"Well ain't that purty," George said, holding the little gold circlet up to the fading sunlight. Adam shot daggers at him but stayed silent, his chest heaving. He wanted to scream in frustration at being so helpless to stop himself from being robbed again.

"It sure is," Eli agreed. "Come on, George. Let's take these horses and get out of here before it gets dark."

"No, not yet," George said, putting the ring box in his pocket. "See, Hothead's little sister is still around here somewhere. Hiding, most like. Last thing we need is her running off to tell the sheriff which way we went."

"I told you, she isn't here," Adam said.

George and Eli shared a nasty smile, and George ambled back over to Adam. He knelt down and leaned into Adam's face again. "Oh, yes, she is," he sneered. "And when we find her, I plan to get to know her _real_ well."

Adam's blood boiled, and without thinking, he cleared his throat and spat in George's pug-nosed face.

George leapt to his feet. "You no-good son of a bitch!" he howled, wiping his face. He hauled back one foot and kicked Adam in the stomach and then in the head. Adam vomited up all the water he'd drunk while setting up the campfire, and blood poured into his eyes as George swung his foot back again. Adam curled up in a ball, trying to protect his vital organs from George's next blow.

A rifle report reverberated through the clearing, nearly deafening everyone and blasting George's rumpled hat off his head.

"Touch him again, and the next one goes right through your skull!"

Adam looked up through streaming eyes to see Josie step out from behind a tall pine several yards away, her new Henry rifle pulled tight to her shoulder and leveled on George. Simultaneous surges of triumph and fear shot through him. Josie had never looked more beautiful, but Adam had never been less glad to see her.

George smiled. "There she is! I'm so pleased you could join us, my dear!"

"Untie my brother." Josie's rifle stayed level.

"You must be mistaken," George replied. "This man's sister isn't here."

"Let. Him. Go."

"Or what?" George sneered. "I've seen you all gussied up. You're too much of a lady to shoot anyone." He lifted his foot to kick Adam again.

"And you're giving me entirely too much credit," Josie replied coolly. And she pulled the trigger.

The Henry roared a second time as its bullet tore through George's right shoulder, and he collapsed on the ground, howling in pain. Josie let loose a triumphant smile and took two steps forward when Adam hollered her name.

"On your left!" he cried.

Josie spun around to see Eli only a few feet away, his revolver aimed at her. He must have snuck up on her while she was preoccupied with George. Josie didn't have enough time to react before Eli pulled his trigger. Adam screamed, and Josie braced herself for the searing pain of a bullet ripping through her body.

But it never came.

In the thousandth of a second before Eli fired, an enormous, snarling mass of brown fur and flashing white teeth sailed out of a clump of bushes and tackled Eli, whose gun flew out of his hand, its bullet tearing harmlessly through the tree branches above. The man shrieked as Pip tore a chunk of flesh out of his left calf.

It took Josie a moment to recover from the shock. "Pip!" she called just before the dog's massive jaws closed around Eli's throat. He turned his head and looked at Josie, Eli's blood dripping from his scruffy chin. "Sit!"

Pip obeyed, sitting down squarely on Eli's chest. The red-haired man wheezed as the 160-pound animal pressed on his lungs.

"Good boy! Guard him!" Josie grabbed Eli's gun and dashed over to Adam. Ignoring George, who was still writhing on the ground in a growing puddle of blood, she knelt behind Adam and sliced through his bonds with her pocketknife. Adam sat up slowly, dizzy from the blow to his head, and he clutched his stomach where he could still feel the toe of George's boot. Checking that George could not reach his gun, Adam grabbed Josie up in a tight hug.

"Oh, Josie, that was so stupid!" he croaked, fighting sobs. "I am so glad you did that, but oh my god, that was so stupid!" He kissed her forehead and then pulled her into another hug.

"You're welcome," Josie said with a wry smile. She wriggled free of Adam's grasp and raced back to the trees, where she had stashed her medical bag and canteen. She dropped back down next to Adam and poured water onto a rag and wiped the blood off Adam's face and then dabbed at the gash on his forehead. Adam winced but knew better than to push her hands away.

"Lucky he missed your eye," Josie said, inspecting the wound. "And it's not deep. You don't need stitches."

Adam nodded, but his gaze was focused over Josie's shoulder. "Uh, Josie? Shouldn't you do something about that?" He pointed around Josie to where George was still lying on the ground and growing increasingly pale.

Josie glanced over her shoulder at the man she had shot. "Oh, yeah. Suppose I should. Keep pressure on that." She placed Adam's hand on the rag covering the cut on his forehead and turned her attention to George. Pulling out her pocketknife again, she cut the man's shirt away. George groaned in pain. "Oh, stop complaining," Josie said. "That bullet went clean through. It didn't even hit an artery." She took a large bandage and wrapped it tightly around the wound, being sure to cover both sides. "Lie still until that stops bleeding."

George glowered at her. "What are you, a doctor?" he sneered.

Josie snorted and sauntered over to Eli to bandage his ripped-up calf before returning to Adam. He was a bit pale and still clutching his midsection, and Josie frowned. "Take your shirt off Adam. I want to check your stomach."

Adam protested, but Josie advanced on him, brandishing her bottle of chloroform, and Adam unbuttoned his shirt. Josie had just shot a man; it was probably a bad time to push her. He lay back and kept still while Josie palpated his abdomen, checking for internal injuries. He winced when she hit the spot where George had kicked him, but Josie didn't find anything that alarmed her. She shook her head at the bruise blooming on Adam's stomach. "That's going to hurt for a while, but you'll be ok. Are you still dizzy?" Adam answered in the negative, and Josie enlisted his help with George. She ordered Adam to hold him still while she stitched up the man's shoulder.

"Aren't you gonna give him any chloroform while you do that?" he asked.

"Nope."

Adam's eyebrows shot up at Josie's reply; she'd never been stingy with chloroform if using it would ease a patient's discomfort.

Josie noticed Adam's reaction. "If I had to dig a bullet out, it would be a different story, but I almost never use chloroform for simple stitches like this," she explained. "Dr. Martin doesn't either. It's not worth the trouble and possible risk. It takes a patient longer to go in and out of consciousness than it does to sew him up. And stitches really don't hurt _that_ badly." She turned and caught George's eye. "Even my cousin Joe was man enough at the age of eight to get stitches without blubbering."

The man glared at her, and Josie took great delight in selecting the largest needle out of her medical bag and holding it up for George to admire before she threaded it and plunged it into his skin. The man bit back a yelp, and Adam smiled. As she sewed, Josie spoke again.

"Adam, if you want to help, you could start a fire and brew some willow bark tea to ease his pain." She caught George's eye again. "Although you don't deserve any pain killer for beating on my brother, unfortunately, being a doctor, I took oaths that cover even dirty, lawless, scum like you." She yanked the thread tight with the final stitch and tied it off. Adam took one look at the anger still splashed across Josie's red face and hustled away to light the fire and get the water boiling.

Josie used the remains of George's shirt to fashion a sling for his right arm. Since this meant she couldn't tie his hands, she ordered Pip to guard him while she tended to Eli. The red-headed man needed quite a few stitches – thirty-three, to be exact – to close the six-inch gash Pip had made in his leg. When she finished, Josie lashed Eli's hands behind his back, but she was kind enough to wrap bandages around his wrists first so the ropes wouldn't cut into his skin.

Adam, meanwhile, had a delightful time brewing a large pot of extra-strong willow bark tea for his assailants, and he made sure to lift a cup of it to Eli's lips while it was still near boiling. Eli scrunched up his face when he tasted the bitter beverage, but George had the audacity to use his good arm to fling his cup at Josie and call her every misogynistic epithet he could think of. Adam strode over, his arm raised to strike the man, but Josie held up a hand to stop him.

"He'll just keep yammering," she said. She filled a syringe with a hefty dose of morphine and jabbed it into George's good arm. He yowled and continued cursing at Josie, but within a few moments, his eyelids drooped, and he tipped over onto the ground and fell asleep.

"Thank goodness," Josie sighed. "I couldn't have put up with him all night."

Eli's eyes widened as he watched his partner pass out in the dirt. Adam took the opportunity to reach into George's pocket and extract Molly's engagement ring and the twenty dollars George had stolen. Adam crammed the twenty into his own pocket and popped open the ring box. He pulled the ring out of the box and examined it.

"I'm sure it's fine, Adam," Josie said with a little smirk.

"I'm just double-checking." He smiled at the ring and went to tuck it back into its box when he spotted something engraved inside the band behind the emerald. "Hey, Josie, look at this. I can't believe I didn't see it before." Josie scurried over to him and looked where Adam was pointing.

"'P.O. and N.O.,'" she read aloud. "Aw, those must be the initials of the couple who owned this ring."

"Yeah. That's kind of sad, but at least the ring's gonna be put to good use." Adam placed the ring back in the box, slipped the box into his own pocket, and turned to the campfire to start making supper.

Eli had the good sense to keep quiet, so Josie kept him awake through a light supper of beans and biscuits before cramming a spoonful of laudanum in his mouth and sending him off to sleep, too. Even with Pip there to help guard their prisoners, Adam wasn't comfortable closing his own eyes. He leaned up against a tree with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders and his rifle next to him to keep watch through the night. As the temperature dropped, Josie scooted over to him and laid her head in his lap. Adam smiled, wrapped his arm around Josie, and pulled her close to his side.

"How's your head?" Josie asked as she nuzzled against him.

"It aches, but I'm all right."

"You want anything for it?"

Adam shuddered at the thought of willow bark tea and declined Josie's offer.

"Ok. Wake me up in a few hours," Josie yawned. "I'll take second watch, though those two reprobates shouldn't stir until dawn."

"Sure," Adam replied, though they both knew he wouldn't wake her.

When dawn broke, Adam still sat keeping watch over his prisoners. Josie stirred as the sun peeped up over the horizon, and she chastised him for not waking her for a shift. Adam smiled an apology and watched as Josie ambled over to check on George and Eli, Pip close at her heels. George was still out cold from the heavy dose of morphine Josie had given him, but Eli stirred when Josie nudged him with her foot.

"What're we gonna do with these fools?" she asked Adam.

"We'll tie them to their horse and escort them west. I expect we'll bump into the sheriff and his posse well before we get back to Sacramento."

Josie's face fell. "We're gonna lose that cougar, aren't we?"

"I'm afraid so," Adam sighed as he rose stiffly to his feet. He glared down at George's still-sleeping form. "Hope you're happy," he grumbled. He reached for his saddlebags to get the coffee, and he grimaced as his bruised abdomen rotated with the movement. He resisted the urge to pay back George with a kick of his own.

As Adam boiled the coffee, Josie cooked up some bacon and beans, making a little extra for Eli. George slept right through breakfast, but he woke up cursing as Josie poured iodine over his stitches to keep them clean.

"Oh, man up!" Josie said. "It doesn't sting that much!"

George spit at her. He missed, but Josie didn't try to stop Adam as he strode over and cracked George sharply across the face. Eli bit his lip against the burning as Josie cleaned his stitches, too, but he was smart enough to keep shut.

Once breakfast was cleaned up, Adam tied George in his saddle and trained his gun on Eli and ordered the red-haired man to mount up behind George. Adam tied Eli to the saddle, too, and then lashed the two men together for good measure. When Adam was certain the men were secured, he and Josie mounted up, one on each side of George and Eli's horse, with Pip bringing up the rear.

"If either of them tries anything funny, shoot them both, and shoot to kill," Adam instructed Josie. He turned to George. "As you may have noticed, my sister's a pretty good shot. Don't test her." George sneered at him but wisely stayed silent.

It was slow going as the company made its way west back toward Sacramento. George and Eli's horse couldn't pick up any speed with two men on its back over mountainous terrain, and despite Adam's insistence that he was fine, his head throbbed from the hard kick George had given him the previous night. The rough ground wasn't doing much for his aching stomach, either. When Josie had checked his abdomen again that morning, they had both shaken their heads at the angry purple bruise that spread from his belly button to the bottom of his rib cage. Combined with not having gotten any sleep the night before, Adam was downright miserable by noon. All he wanted was to be lying in his bed at home. Or, better yet, to be lying in Molly's bed in her shop's backroom while she tended to him. Josie had a soothing touch, but it sure wasn't the same as Molly's. He took a little solace in knowing that his discomfort was nothing compared to the pain that Eli and George were in. Josie hadn't given them anything stronger than tea that morning because she didn't want them too groggy to ride, and now both of them, especially George, had gone pale from being jostled around on horseback.

By late afternoon, they had found no sign of a search posse, and Adam began looking for a place to camp, crestfallen over the thought of a second consecutive sleepless night. By the time they found another little clearing, Adam was in such a foul mood that he yanked Eli and George off their horse much harder than he needed to and practically threw them under a small oak tree. He headed over to tie them up, but Josie beat him to it, and he watched in amazement as she expertly wrapped up the ropes around both men's hands and secured them to the tree trunk, ignoring George's protests over his injured shoulder. Adam strode over and inspected his cousin's handiwork.

"Where did you learn to tie a constrictor hitch?!" he asked.

"Grandfather," she replied. "Where'd you learn to recognize one?"

"Pa."

"Who probably learned it from Grandfather."

The cousins grinned at each other, and Adam glanced up at the darkening sky. "We better get camp set up." He was about to cross back over to Sport to dig his matches out of his saddlebags when he again heard the click of a rifle cocking. He shoved Josie behind him and froze in place. With one quick gesture from Josie, Pip zipped behind a large clump of bushes and hunkered out of sight.

"Hold it right there!" a man's voice called from the shadows of the trees surrounding them. "This is Sheriff Charles Hammond of Sacramento, and my men and I have you surrounded!"

Adam sighed in relief. "Chuck!" he called back. "Chuck, it's Adam Cartwright!"

"Adam?" A tall, thin figure stepped out of the trees into the clearing. He had lowered his rifle but held it at the ready in case he needed to pull it to his shoulder again. He broke into a grin as he recognized Adam. "Land sakes, Adam, what are you doing clear out here?!"

"Hunting," Adam replied, and he pointed toward George and Eli. George glared up at the sheriff, but Eli was quaking in fright. "Found a little more than we bargained for."

"That you did." Chuck stepped over to the prisoners and checked that they were secure. Satisfied they wouldn't get loose, he called to his men, and a half dozen deputies materialized out of the tree line. That was when he noticed Josie, who was still hiding behind Adam and clutching the back of his shirt so tightly that her knuckles were white. It had taken every ounce of her self-control not to pull her Colt from its holster, and the sheriff misinterpreted her reaction as fear. "It's all right, sweetheart," the sheriff said gently. His eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled at her, and Josie guessed he was about her father's age. "I'm sorry if I frightened you. I didn't recognize Adam in this fading light. His father and I are old friends. I never would have pulled my gun if I'd realized it was him." The sheriff held a hand out to her. Josie took a deep breath to slow her adrenaline rush, let go of Adam's shirt, and took the man's hand, letting him pull her out from behind her cousin. "That's better," the sheriff said. "Now, let's try this again. I'm Sheriff Charles Hammond of Sacramento."

"Dr. Josephine Cartwright," Josie replied, shaking the man's hand properly.

Sheriff Hammond's eyes lit up, and he turned to Adam. "Why, this is your cousin!" Adam nodded, and the sheriff grinned. "Ben has told me all about you! Now, my dear, how about you tell me how you and Adam managed to capture these two ruffians?"

While Adam and the deputies finished setting up camp, Josie started from the beginning and told Sheriff Hammond how she and Adam had gone to Sacramento for her birthday, how George and Eli had knocked into them a few nights earlier, and how they'd ambushed Adam the previous evening. When she reached the point where she shot George through the shoulder, the sheriff's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline.

"She's a good shot, Chuck," Adam called from a few feet away where he was lighting a campfire. Two of the younger deputies grinned at each other at this little tidbit.

"You shot them both?" the sheriff asked in amazement.

"No, just Napoleon Bonaparte here," Josie said, waving at George. "Pip took care of Eli."

"Pip?"

"Oh! Pip!" Josie called. In all the hubbub, she'd forgotten that her loyal wolfhound was still hiding behind the bushes, waiting to be called upon. At the sound of his mistress's voice, Pip emerged, trotted over to her, and sat down at her side.

"God sakes!" one of the deputies shouted when he caught sight of the dog.

"Watch your language, Miller!" Sheriff Hammond shouted back. "We've got ourselves a lady here!"

"My apologies, ma'am," the young man said, tipping his hat to Josie. "Just ain't never seen a critter like that."

Josie smiled at him and finished her story, ending at the exact moment the sheriff drew down on them. The lawman shook his head.

"Well, you'll want to come back to town with us," he said. "There's five hundred dollars reward money waiting for you two for capturing these scalawags."

Josie's face split into a huge grin, but Adam groaned at the thought of riding all the way back to Sacramento; he just wanted to go home. Josie asked the sheriff to excuse her for a moment and skipped over to where Adam crouched next to his now-crackling fire.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "We just made five hundred dollars!"

"Yeah, that's great," Adam replied, sitting down carefully so as not to disturb his sore midsection. "But wouldn't you rather just go home? It's a two-day ride back to Sacramento, and then another four back home. Besides, we don't need the money. They can give it to the school or something."

"But, Adam, what about the Virginia City Library? Do you know how many books two hundred and fifty dollars would buy?!"

"Two-fifty? The reward's five hundred."

"I was just counting my half," Josie replied. "But I could stock the whole library with that much." She looked pleadingly at him, and Adam sighed.

"All right," he said. "You've certainly earned it for getting me out of that jam yesterday." Josie flung her arms around his neck, and Adam flinched as both his stomach and his head protested. Realizing she'd hurt him, Josie let go and brushed Adam's hair off his brow to check on the gash over his eye. Like his stomach, his brow had turned an ugly shade of purple, and Josie knew it must be throbbing.

"Let me give you a bit of laudanum tonight," she said. "It'll dull the pain and help you sleep."

"No," Adam answered, shaking his head firmly despite the ache. "I don't want to be drugged out here, no matter how many deputies we have standing guard. I'll be fine."

"At least take some tea." Josie giggled at the way Adam wrinkled his nose at the mere mention of tea. "I'll give it to you already cooled and loaded with sugar."

Adam smiled at her. "All right. I'll play the role of the compliant patient, but for one night only."

One of the deputies stood guard over George and Eli while Pip raced off into the trees to catch his supper and everyone else cooked up beans and salt pork over the campfire. One of the younger deputies, who was around Josie's age, had brought along some dried apples and made up a stew. When Josie mentioned she had never tasted dried-apple stew, the young man enthusiastically shared a dish with her. Adam and Sheriff Hammond chuckled as they watched two of the other young deputies scoot closer to Josie and begin vying for her attention. Josie soaked it up, most likely, Adam realized, because she was completely oblivious to the fact that these young men were flirting with her.

All of the men were interested in how a lady had managed to become a doctor, and, in the spirit of making the attractive young physician smile, they all roundly agreed that she was probably better at the profession than any man could ever hope to be. Adam laughed along until one of the young deputies decided to push his luck.

"You know, Dr. Cartwright," he said, stretching out his lanky legs. "I've been having trouble with a bit of swelling down below. I'd be mighty obliged if you could help me with it."

Adam and the sheriff both leapt to their feet, but before either of them could act, Josie regained the upper hand.

"I'd love to, pardner," she replied without looking up from her stew, "but I didn't bring my microscope."

All the men, including Adam and the sheriff, roared with laughter. Even Eli and George let out little snorts from their position tied to the tree. The young deputy glowered and tried to disappear inside his coat as his face shot crimson. When he got his laughter under control, Sheriff Hammond turned to the young man.

"I warned you once about your language, Miller," he growled. "You apologize to the young lady, and then you go stand watch over the prisoners. You just earned yourself a double shift."

The young man mumbled an apology to Josie and then slunk through the dark to George and Eli to relieve the current guard.

By this time, Josie could see that Adam's little remaining energy was fading fast, so she hurried to make up some willow bark tea. As promised, she served it to him already cooled and sweetened with three big lumps of sugar. Adam drained it in one gulp, shuddered, and made a production of rinsing his mouth with water from his canteen. Josie giggled at him and then, after dosing George and Eli with hefty spoonfuls of laudanum, she bid all the men goodnight. She knew Adam wouldn't go to sleep until she did, and her cousin looked ready to fall over. The lawmen were tired, too, from several hard days on the trail, and within moments, everyone except the watchman and the men tied to the tree was bundled up in bedrolls around the campfire. Pip lay down between Josie and the fire, and Adam wrapped his arms around her from the other side.

"I'm sorry you didn't get your mountain lion," he muttered in her ear as she nestled her head on his arm.

"That's ok," Josie replied. "All I really wanted was an adventure with you, and we got that, didn't we?"

Adam chuckled. "We sure did." He kissed Josie's temple and wished her goodnight. Safe again, the cousins fell asleep almost on the instant.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

It was a slow two-day ride back to Sacramento. The throbbing in Adam's head and stomach eased, but he didn't sleep well on the trail – even with the sheriff and six deputies, Adam felt uneasy having Josie that close to George after the man's comment about getting to know her. He was worried, too, about how cold it was getting in the mountains, and he knew if he and Josie didn't move quickly, they could get caught up in snowstorm. Snow wasn't common quite this early – it was only September 30 when they returned to Sacramento – but it wasn't unheard of, either, and Adam resolved to purchase a few more blankets before leaving town again.

By the time the entourage trotted into the state capital in the late afternoon, Adam was exhausted, but Josie was in high spirits. She had enjoyed swapping stories with the sheriff and his men – including Deputy Miller who was the epitome of chivalry after Josie embarrassed him – and all of the men had been highly entertained by Pip, who basked in their attention and showed off all of his best tricks. After locking up George and Eli in the town jail, Sheriff Hammond led Josie and Adam over to the First Bank of Sacramento with the recovered money. Adam had found all ten thousand dollars in Eli's saddlebags, and the bank manager's eyes welled up as the sheriff handed him the sacks of money. He thrust his hand into one of the sacks and counted out five hundred dollars, which he handed to Adam with outpourings of gratitude. Adam shook his head and pointed to Josie, who happily accepted the money. She counted up half and handed it to Adam, but he shook his head again.

"No, Josie," he said. "You were the one who caught them. You and Pip. Keep it all and stock the library."

Tears streamed down Josie's cheeks as she threw her arms around Adam's neck and thanked him over and over again. When she finally let him go, she looked into his face and saw how badly the lack of sleep was catching up to him. He was drawn and pale, and puffy bags had sprung up under his eyes.

"Come on, Cousin-Cousin," she said. "Let's go find a hotel and get you to bed."

Adam agreed, but the sheriff wouldn't hear of it. He insisted that Adam, Josie, and Pip stay the night at his house with him and his family. Adam would have declined, but Josie accepted the offer so quickly that he never had a chance. Therefore, two hours later, he found himself sitting down to dinner with the sheriff, his wife, and their twenty-year-old daughter, who spent the meal casting coy glances at Adam. Adam, however, was too tired to notice and too in love with Molly to care even if he had, and he went to bed immediately after supper.

The next morning, after a quick stop at a general store to buy a couple more blankets and, in Josie's case, a new pair of jeans, Adam and Josie bid farewell once more to Sacramento and set off for home. It was, indeed, much already much colder in the mountains than it had been even five days ago when Adam and Josie left town the first time, and Adam abandoned their hunting plans and took them down the shortest path through the mountains. He knew Josie was disappointed over losing the chance to catch a cougar, but he couldn't risk them getting caught in bad weather.

Midway through their third day, as they were about to descend the eastern side of the mountain range, Pip stopped dead in the middle of the trail, growling softly as the hair on his back stood up. Adam glanced around and spotted a fresh set of mountain lion tracks right next to the trail. He shook his head in disbelief, gestured to Josie to keep quiet, and directed the horses off the trail, following the tracks. After only a few yards, he slid down from Sport and wrapped the horse's reins around a tree branch. Josie followed suit with Scout, pulled her rifle from its scabbard, and followed Adam as he crept deeper into the trees. They rounded a clump of trees, and there atop a rocky outcropping stood a magnificent, tawny mountain lion. He was huge – easily eight feet from nose to tail, and Adam guessed he was at least as heavy as Pip. Adam laid a hand on Josie's shoulder and guided her down into a crouch behind a large boulder.

"You won't get a better shot," he whispered. "Take it."

Josie pulled her rifle to her shoulder and sighted along the barrel. She had a clean shot aimed directly at the animal's heart. She cocked the hammer.

Adam held his breath, waiting for Josie's gun to fire. He couldn't wait to see that cougar up close. If Josie was careful with her shot, she'd wind up with a beautiful trophy. He almost snickered as he pictured the mountain lion's hide replacing the elegant wool rug in Josie's bedroom.

Several seconds ticked by, and Josie didn't pull her trigger.

"Josie, take the shot!" Adam hissed through his teeth. "He's gonna move on!"

Josie sighed and lowered her rifle. "I can't do it, Adam," she said, her head hanging. "Look at him! He's beautiful. And he's not bothering anybody. Just trying to survive like every other living creature. Let's leave him be and go home."

Adam smiled at Josie's kindness even as a twinge of regret tweaked him; he hadn't seen such an impressive animal for several years, and with as many cougars as the mountain men and ranchers were killing, Adam knew he might never see such a fine specimen again. But he took Josie's free hand in his, and the cousins made their way back to their horses.

They enjoyed their final night on the trail. After abandoning their mountain lion, Adam shot a fat hare, and he and Josie roasted it over their campfire for supper. That night was especially cold, and though they had enjoyed their adventure together, both cousins were glad the following afternoon when they crossed onto Ponderosa land.

As they trotted around the barn and into the front yard of the ranch house, Ben and Hop Sing came outside to welcome them home. Josie leapt off of Scout and pounced on her uncle in a huge hug.

"Hello, sweetheart!" Ben greeted her, laughing at her enthusiasm. "How was your trip?"

"It was wonderful!" Josie gushed. "Thank you for the rifle! It's incredible!"

"Well, only the finest for Ben Cartwright's best girl." Ben looked over at Sport and Scout and then addressed Adam. "Couldn't find a cat?"

Adam sighed as he slid out of his saddle. "Oh, we found one. But we decided to leave him be."

Ben raised an eyebrow at Josie. "I couldn't do it, Uncle Ben," she confessed. "I had a clean shot, but I just couldn't kill him. If he'd been a danger to us or the ranch, I would have, but he's just trying to live his life."

Ben caught Adam's eye, and the two men exchanged a smile.

"I hear you still got to try out that gun, though," Ben said, turning a sly smile on Josie.

"What do you mean, Uncle Ben?" she asked. There was no way he could have already heard about their encounter with the bank robbers, and to protect Adam's pride, she hadn't planned to tell anyone anyway. She hadn't yet figured out how to explain the sudden appearance of five hundred dollars in the library fund, but she thought she could cross that bridge when she came to it.

Ben grinned and suggested they all go inside and relax for a bit. With befuddled glances at one another, Adam and Josie handed off their reins to Baxter and Danny, grabbed their bags, and followed Ben inside. Once everyone, including Pip, was seated in the living room, Ben turned to Josie.

"So, my dear, what was the most exciting part of your trip?"

Josie almost blurted out the bit about finding Molly's engagement ring, but she caught herself at the last moment and instead told Ben about her birthday dinner and the necklace Adam had given her. Ben listened politely and then asked Adam the same question.

"Oh, definitely Josie's reaction to her necklace, Pa," he said, leaning back in the settee and trying to look casual. He wasn't keen, either, to tell his family that Josie had had to rescue him.

"Really?" Ben asked. "Nothing else exciting at all?"

Adam knew they were cornered. "Out with it, Pa."

Ben snickered as he fairly skipped over to his desk and returned with a sheet of paper bearing a news story that had come in over the wire that morning. It was a stroke of luck that he'd been in town to receive it; Morris had chased him halfway down Main Street to deliver it. He handed the article to Josie.

"Nevada cousins capture bank thieves," she read aloud. Her eyebrows shot up, and she was too surprised to read further. Adam snatched the paper from her and continued reading out loud.

"On Sunday, cousins Adam and Josephine Cartwright, both of the Ponderosa Ranch, Nevada Territory, captured George Nelson and Eli Walnut, who stole ten thousand dollars from the First Bank of Sacramento on September 25." Adam turned to Ben in shock. "How did you get this already? The _Sacramento Bee_ only comes in once a month."

"Chuck Hammond wired it to me as soon as it ran. Thought I might like it as a keepsake. I'm thinking about putting it in that box I have of all the drawings you made as a boy."

Adam groaned, but Josie giggled.

"What's so funny?!" Adam demanded.

"Eli's last name is 'Walnut'?! He had to have made that up!" She burst into hysterics.

Ben took the paper from Adam and scanned the article. "Ah, yes, this is my favorite part. 'While Mr. Cartwright was incapacitated, Miss Cartwright shot Mr. Nelson through the shoulder while her dog attacked Mr. Walnut. A medical doctor, Miss Cartwright then proceeded to stitch closed the wounds of both robbers.'" He reached down and scratched Pip's head. "Good boy, Pip!" The dog yipped and wagged his tail. Ben then grew serious and stepped over to Adam. He tilted Adam's head back so he could look at the healing cut over his eye. "You all right, son?"

Adam sighed dropped his gaze to his lap. "Yes, sir. Just embarrassed I let myself get jumped again."

"Not your fault, son. Those were lawless men with no regard for human life." Ben squeezed Adam's shoulder and then turned to Josie. "I'm just glad you were there with him. Good job, Josephine."

Josie dropped her gaze, too. "I don't feel very good about it," she admitted. When Adam and Ben made no comment, she explained. "I took oaths to protect and revere life. I was using an unfamiliar rifle. What if my aim had been off? I could have killed him."

Ben crouched in front of her and took both her hands in his. "Josie, there's no telling what those men would have done if you hadn't intervened. Adam could have been killed. I assume you gave this Nelson character fair warning before you pulled the trigger?"

"Oh, yes, sir!"

"Then that bullet was his choice, not yours. Don't second-guess yourself for another minute, you understand?" Ben smiled as Josie nodded. "That's my girl. Now, why don't you go upstairs and get cleaned up? A hot bath will do you good."

As Josie disappeared upstairs, Ben sat down on the settee next to Adam and put his arm around his son's shoulders. "I'm glad you're all right, boy. This family needs you."

Adam gave a half smile. "Thanks, Pa. I'm just thankful Josie's such a good shot."

"Speaking of thankfulness," Ben said, rising to his feet and hustling over to his desk again. When he returned, he handed Adam another piece of paper. "Take a look at this."

Adam broke into a full smile as he skimmed the paper. "A Proclamation of Thanksgiving," he read. "From President Lincoln!" He glanced over the president's words explaining that in the midst of a civil war, he hoped all Americans would pause to thank God for the "singular deliverances and blessings" He had bestowed upon them. "'I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens,'" Adam read aloud. "This is great, Pa! We should have a big supper that day!"

"My thoughts exactly, son. We'll invite the Lovejoys, Molly and Fionn, and how about the Marquettes, too?"

"Perfect." Adam grinned at his father. "If you think you can spare me one more day, I'd like to go into town tomorrow to see Molly."

"I'm a step ahead of you. Molly and Fionn are coming by for dinner tomorrow."

Adam's face lit up, and he grinned again. "Even still, Pa, if you can spare me, I'd like to go see her."

Ben chuckled. "Absolutely. Give her my best."

Whistling, Adam darted upstairs to wait his turn for a hot bath.

After breakfast the next morning, Adam saddled up Ruckus, a dapple gray stallion he had purchased a year or so earlier, to ride into town. Ruckus didn't intuit his wishes like Sport did, but after several days riding through the mountains, Adam felt his beloved chestnut deserved a rest. Ruckus was, however, quite fast, and Adam made it to town in less than two hours. Just in case there were any mares in heat in town today, Adam left Ruckus in a high-walled stall with a locking door at the livery stable and then walked over to Molly's shop.

Molly was unfurling a bolt of red silk, which she dropped to the table with a thump when Adam came in. They smiled at each other from across the shop for several seconds before Molly dashed around the table and flung herself into his arms. They exchanged no words as Adam caught her around the waist and pressed his lips to hers, but Molly cut the kiss short as she noticed the healing gash over Adam's eye.

"Adam! What happened?!"

"It's nothing. Well, not nothing, but it's a long story. I'll tell you later. I'm ok, I promise. Josie gave me a clean bill of health."

"Completely clean?" Molly asked with a sly smile.

"Completely."

Molly put her "closed" sign in the front window, grabbed his hand, and led him to the back room, where she bolted the door behind them.

As they cuddled afterward, Adam was overcome by such a powerful wave of love – both for Molly and from Molly – that his eyes welled up, and he had to bite his lip to keep from proposing to her right then and there.

"Adam, my love," Molly whispered, brushing his cheek with her palm. "Are you all right?"

"Never better," Adam whispered back.

"Are you sure you're all right?" she asked as she brushed his hair from his brow.

"With you beside me, how could anything be wrong?"

Molly understood. Adam would never ask for comfort aloud, but the way he curved himself around her spoke volumes. She kissed the scabbing cut on his forehead and pulled him into her arms, where they lay well past lunchtime and into the afternoon.

Josie had spent her day riding out to the Silver Dollar Ranch to check on Delphine, whose pregnancy, she was thrilled to discover, was still progressing well. Dell was nearing the end of her first trimester, and Josie was beginning to let herself hope that she would be able to carry the baby to term. When Josie got home and began dressing for dinner, she chose a green cotton dress. It wasn't as fancy as her blue silk, but it was nicer than a typical day dress, and its low neckline allowed her to show off her new diamond necklace.

Just before supper, Adam and Molly rode in together from town, arriving only moments before Fionn, whose eyes popped at the sight of Josie in the low-cut dress. He leapt from the wagon and swung her around in a big hug as Conall and Pip raced circles around them and barked.

As they all sat around the supper table, Adam and Josie regaled everyone with their tale of capturing the bank robbers. Molly was horrified by the whole story, but Fionn burst out laughing when they reached the point of Josie shooting George.

"That's my Hey, You!" he said, pinching Josie's cheek. Josie beamed at him. Fionn complimented her again when she revealed that she was giving all of her reward money to the library, and for a second, the Cartwright men stared, certain that the young Irishman was about to plant a kiss on Josie right there at the supper table.

"Oh, Josie," Little Joe piped up, breaking the tension. "Me and Hoss and Fionn made that apple cider while you were away."

"You made it without me?" Josie asked in a small voice.

Fionn glanced apologetically at her and took her hand under the table. "I'm sorry, Hey, You, but the last of me crops are nearly ready for harvestin', and we had the apples, so we thought we'd better get it made while we had the time. I promise you can help next year."

Josie smiled at his mention of next year. "All right," she said. "But if it turns out terrible, I want all of Virginia City to know I had no part in it!"

After supper, the group retired to the living room for brandy and more stories of Adam and Josie's trip. Molly glowed as Josie told them how excited Elizabeth Pearson had been to see Adam and how she had dragged him all over the house for a tour.

"Oh, I'm so sorry I didna get to see that!" she said. "How darlin'!" She beamed at Adam with such intensity that Ben's eyebrows shot up, and he crossed the fingers of his right hand behind his back.

"They are pretty cute together," Hoss added. "Can't wait until Patience and I start havin' some so ol' Uncle Adam here has playmates again!"

Ben crossed the fingers of his left hand behind his back, too.

Toward the end of the evening, Josie noticed Fionn getting antsy – he wasn't good at sitting still – so she suggested they go for a stroll around the yard. While Fionn got their jackets, Josie pulled the box of Belgian chocolates out of the sideboard. Fionn raised an eyebrow but asked no questions as he helped Josie into her jacket and held the door for her. The moon was only about half full, but it let off enough light that Josie and Fionn could see well enough for a little walk around the yard. As they walked hand-in-hand, they chatted about Josie's trip to Sacramento and Fionn's fall harvest. He would finish bringing in his crops in the next couple of weeks, and he was pleased with his first year's efforts. He had plenty reserved crops to see him and Molly comfortably through the winter and enough cash to buy seeds and supplies for next year.

"I'll be glad to have a break from all the work," Fionn said as they circled back to the house and leaned against the porch railing. "I do love workin' me land, but it'll be nice to have more time to spend with friends." He smiled at Josie and squeezed her hand. "So long as the weather's not too bad this winter for me to get out here, that is."

"Pip loves the snow," Josie said. "I'll send him out to blaze a trail."

Fionn laughed and draped his arm around Josie's shoulders. "I missed you, Josie. Next time you leave, I'm stowin' away in your carpetbag."

Josie giggled and stepped close to Fionn's side. "If you do that, I won't have any space to bring you home presents," she said. She pulled the little box of chocolates out of her jacket pocket and handed it to Fionn. "These are for you."

Fionn grinned when he opened the box and revealed its contents. He immediately popped one of the truffles into his mouth and closed his eyes. He sighed as the chocolate melted on his tongue and staggered dramatically over to the rocking chair and collapsed into it, arms flopped over the armrests and legs splayed out in front of him. "I think I just died of sheer happiness," he said when he'd finally swallowed the truffle.

Josie laughed at his act and offered him her hand. When she pulled him to his feet, she found herself nose to freckled nose with Fionn. Her breath caught, but Fionn laid a finger on her lips so she wouldn't get the wrong idea and then leaned in and kissed her cheek.

"Thank you," he whispered. "Those are the best chocolates I've had since I left Ireland."

Josie swallowed hard, not sure whether she should step back or lean in closer. She played for time. "Do they have good chocolates in Ireland?"

"Oh, aye!" Fionn exclaimed, sounding startled that such a question even needed to be asked. "There's the most incredible little confectioner in the Ring of Kerry, of all places. Mam and Da took us there one summer to visit some cousins. I couldn't have been more than about ten, I think. There's a little village called Portmagee, and we took the boat from there out to Skellig Michael – it's this ancient monastery built on what's really nothin' more than a giant rock about seven miles off the coast. It's about six hundred feet to the top, but we climbed the whole way up – even Mam did. You wouldn't believe the view, Hey, You! And all the puffins! They nest there durin' the summer, thousands upon thousands of 'em. Seals, too. And- oh, listen to me, jabberin' on." He blushed and dropped his gaze to his boots.

Josie placed her hand under his chin and tilted his head up. "It sounds beautiful," she said. They stood in silence for a time until another thought that had been niggling at Josie finally demanded to be spoken aloud. "What happened to your mother?"

Fionn snapped his gaze on hers, surprised by this sudden change of subject. "Cholera," he said at last.

Josie's face crumpled. "Oh, Fionn, I'm so sorry. That's a horrible disease." Cholera outbreaks had been a threat throughout Josie's lifetime. There had been one in New York when she was nine years old, and another in California about the time Adam was returning home from college. When Josie was nearly fourteen, an outbreak in Chicago killed about 3,500 people – five and a half percent of the city's population. And it was a common scourge in the army camps now.

"Aye. The spring I was fourteen, there was a bad outbreak in London, and it ain't far from London to Dublin. Killed thousands of people. People who had just survived the potato famine. Can you believe that? You live through the famine just to die of sickness right after." Fionn shook his head. "People who talk about 'the luck of the Irish' have never read a history book. Anyway, Mam and Molly both took sick. Molly pulled through, but Mam, well, she got sick one afternoon and died the next mornin'. Da was never really the same after that. Within a year, we were pullin' up stakes and headin' for America." Tears swam in his dark eyes, and Josie was about to offer him her handkerchief, when Fionn took a deep breath and bit down hard on his lower lip. The tears disappeared, and he smiled again. "Goodness, Hey, You, how did we get from talkin' about chocolates to such a sad topic?"

"Me being nosy. I'm sorry."

"I like your nose," Fionn said, giving Josie's nose a playful little pinch. "Don't change it." He offered her his arm and escorted her back into the house.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

October passed in a flurry of preparations. Once the cattle were secured in winter pastures, the Cartwright men spent the rest of the month finishing up the exterior of Hoss and Patience's house. Adam was anxious to get the roof on the place so they would be protected in case snow came early, and by the end of the month, the exterior was finished, and they began working on the inside.

Josie, Molly, and Sally Cass stayed busy helping Patience plan the wedding, and Josie, Sally, and Patience's younger sister, Hope, went to Molly's shop one afternoon to get their measurements taken for their bridesmaid's dresses. All three young ladies were delighted with the red silk Patience had chosen; it would be stunning against both Josie's and Hope's dark hair and Sally's blond. The dresses would have full hoop skirts, cap sleeves, and white-lace trim – perfect for a Christmas wedding. Even Josie was excited about the prospect of a new gown, and she hoped she'd get another opportunity to wear it sometime after the wedding.

Fionn finished harvesting his fall crops by the middle of the month, and he, Josie, Little Joe, Sally, and Patience put the finishing touches on the plans for the Fall Festival. They already had nearly a dozen shops in town sporting "I Support the Library" signs, showing that they were donating a small portion of their profits to the library. Since Josie's reward money more than covered the cost of ordering books to stock the shelves and purchase the other supplies they needed, such as ledgers to keep track of their catalogue and who had which books checked out at any given time, the quintet voted unanimously to split the proceeds from the upcoming festival with the school so it could purchase a bell for its tower. They papered every bulletin board in town with fliers advertising the festival, and all of Virginia City began buzzing with excitement. Usually the town saw only one or two shindigs each year, and everyone was thrilled to get in one more party before winter settled over the region. The children, especially, were excited over the planned games, and Molly found herself inundated with last-minute orders when Josie and company announced the addition of a costume contest.

Ten days before the Fall Festival, Fionn came by the Ponderosa to check on the apple cider that he, Hoss, and Little Joe had made while Josie was in Sacramento. To stay out of Hop Sing's way, they had used the stove in Josie's clinic and then stored the jars in the house's basement to keep the cider cool. It had been sitting for three weeks, so Fionn guessed the spices had had just enough to time to infuse the liquid.

When Fionn arrived on the Ponderosa, followed closely by Conall, he, Hoss, Joe, and Josie tromped down to the basement to check on the concoction. As soon as he spotted the jars, Fionn slapped his forehead and groaned.

"What is it?" Hoss asked.

Fionn looked at him and Little Joe in amazement. "Does no one else see the problem here?!" he demanded, waving a hand toward the jars.

Hoss and Joe shared an uncomfortable glance, while Josie, who was seeing the cider for the first time, just looked confused.

Fionn sighed in exasperation. "The jars. You didna put the lids on the jars!"

Josie looked over and saw that the four dozen jars of apple cider were covered only by cheesecloth. Fionn turned to her to explain.

"The cider was still hot from the stove when we brought it down here. It needed to cool before we capped it, and these two," he jabbed a finger at Hoss and Little Joe, "were supposed to put the lids on that night!"

Josie joined Fionn in glaring at Hoss and Joe. "Well done, fellas," she said. "You ruined the cider."

Hoss picked up one of the jars and took a sniff. "Huh," he said, taking another sniff. "Smells like the kitchen when Hop Sing bakes bread."

Curious, Josie picked up a jar, too, and inhaled. "You're right. It smells like yeast."

Fionn perked up. "Yeast? Lemme see." He snatched the jar from Josie and took a whiff. Much to everyone's surprise, he burst out laughing. "Looks like we made cider after all, shams! I need a spoon!" Jar in hand, Fionn darted up the stairs, and the three Cartwrights heard him rummaging around in the kitchen. Terrified that this would result in Fionn's murder by a small Chinese man, Josie, Hoss, and Joe tore up the stairs after him. They found Fionn standing next to the sink and using a spoon to skim a layer of thick foam off the top of the cider. He flung this into the sink and then, giving the cider a good stir, he raised the jar to his lips and took a sip. Hoss and Little Joe both held their breath as they waited for Fionn's reaction, while Josie tried to remember if she had a bottle of ipecac in her bedroom in case she needed to empty Fionn's stomach in a hurry. Much to everyone's relief, Fionn grinned as he lowered the jar from his mouth.

"Well?" Joe asked tentatively.

Fionn said nothing and passed him the jar. Joe took a small sip and then grinned even wider than Fionn. He gave the jar to Hoss, who laughed delightedly when he tasted the cider.

"You gotta try this, Josie!" he said as he handed her the jar.

Warily, Josie raised the jar to her lips and took the tiniest possible sip. The liquid that ran over her tongue was sweet, yet had a tart bite. It took a moment for her to realize why. "It's fermented!" she exclaimed. The men broke out laughing.

"Yes, it is!" Fionn cheered. "Not the type of cider we intended to make, but cider all the same!"

Josie took another, larger sip. "It's pretty good," she admitted, studying the liquid in the jar. "But fellas, we can't give this to the children at the Fall Festival. What are we going to do with it all?"

"I suppose we could sell it," Little Joe suggested.

"Oh, Joseph, Joseph, Joseph," Fionn said, draping an arm over his friend's shoulders. "I have to teach you to think like an Irishman. What we've got here is enough hard cider to keep us happy all winter. What's the matter with you, thinkin' of getting rid of it?"

They all laughed, but Hop Sing swept into the kitchen just then and ordered them out so he could make supper.

"I suppose Mr. O'Connell stay for supper?" he asked Josie.

"Yes, if that's not a bother."

"No bother for Hop Sing, so long as he stay OUT OF KITCHEN!" The cook snapped a dish towel at them, sending them scampering out of the kitchen like frightened chickens.

Adam and Ben were working late that evening reviewing the progress of one of their new mines, so it was just Josie, Joe, Hoss, and Fionn at the supper table. As they ate their way through bowls of Hop Sing's famous beef stew, they passed around the jar of cider, which was empty by the end of the meal. Before Little Joe dealt cards to play a few rounds of Hearts, Fionn gave Josie a wicked grin and dashed back down to the basement, returning in short order with four more jars of cider and four spoons. After everyone had skimmed the foam from their jars and stirred up their cider, they settled in to play cards.

Josie had always enjoyed Hearts, but she had never known the game could be so funny. Something about the expression on the Queen of Spades' face made her giggle uncontrollably. By the time Hoss had taken the last of the tricks and was declared the winner, all four of them were laughing at the slightest provocation, and Josie realized she had nearly drained her jar of cider.

"Let's play again!" Little Joe said. His words were slurred, though, so it came out sounding like "Less play gin."

"No!" Fionn declared. "Ceoil agus craic!"

The Cartwrights stared at him in bewilderment.

"Should I have understood that?" Josie asked Hoss. She'd meant to whisper, but she realized too late that she'd nearly shouted, and she clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Music and fun!" Fionn repeated in English. "We need music!" He jumped out of his chair and soared over to the living room, where he cleared the coffee table and leapt onto it.

"I need more cider first," Hoss said and lumbered down to the basement to retrieve four more jars.

"And I _really_ have to go!" Josie added, again shouting when she'd meant to whisper. She made her way clumsily up the stairs and decided she really should have a talk with Adam about realigning the staircase. Somehow, it had gone out of plumb. When she returned, feeling like she'd lost about five pounds of water weight, she found Hoss and Joe sitting on the settee, clapping their hands in time to Fionn's singing. Josie didn't catch all of the words, but it was something about hunting a hare along the rocky road to Dublin. It didn't matter, though, as Fionn tapped out such an infectious rhythm on the coffee table that Josie soon found herself clapping along and joining in the chorus. Even Pip and Conall howled along. Between songs, she drained the last of her first cider jar and skimmed the foam off her second.

After a few rousing songs, Fionn taught them all a sad ballad about a man who stole from the British to feed his family during the Potato Famine and then was shipped off to the penal colonies in Australia.

"Nothing matters, Mary, when you're free," he sang. "Against the Famine and the Crown, I rebelled, they cut me down. Now you must raise our child with dignity."

By the time Fionn reached the chorus, all three Cartwrights had joined in:

"Low lie the Fields of Athenry, where once we watched the small free bird fly. Our love was on the wing, we had dreams and songs to sing. It's so lonely 'round the Fields of Athenry!"

Hoss and Little Joe were wiping tears from their eyes by the end of the tune, so Fionn decided to pick up the tempo again. "Drain your jars, friends!" he commanded. "You'll need it for this one! It's called 'The Merry Cuckold and the Kind Wife.'" The Cartwrights opened their third jars of cider, Josie opening an extra one for Fionn, and sat back to listen. Fionn launched into a song about a man whose wife was clearly cheating on him but kept convincing him that he was so drunk he was hallucinating. Josie roared with laughter at the fifth verse:

And as I went home on Friday night as drunk as drunk could be  
I saw a head upon the bed where my old head should be  
Well, I called me wife and I said to her: Will you kindly tell to me  
Who owns that head upon the bed where my old head should be?

Ah, you're drunk,  
you're drunk you silly old fool,  
still you cannot see  
That's a baby boy that me mother sent to me  
Well, it's many a day I've travelled a hundred miles or more  
But a baby boy with his whiskers on sure I never saw before!

Ben and Adam came home just as Josie, Hoss, and Little Joe were opening their fourth jars of cider and Fionn was launching into the seventh and raunchiest verse:

As I went home on Sunday night as drunk as drunk could be,  
I saw a thing in her thing where my old thing should be.  
Well, I called me wife and I said to her: Will you kindly tell to me  
Who owns that thing in your thing where my old thing should be?

Ah, you're drunk,  
you're drunk you silly old fool,  
still you cannot see  
That's a lovely tin whistle that me mother sent to me.  
Well, it's many a day I've travelled a hundred miles or more,  
But hair on a tin whistle sure I never saw before!

The three youngest Cartwrights screamed with laughter, as Fionn, still standing on the coffee table, took a bow, lost his balance, and landed in their laps, splashing cider everywhere.

"WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE?!" Ben thundered.

Hoss, Little Joe, and Josie swiveled their heads to look at him and Adam. Fionn tried to look up, too, but as he was still lying in his friends' laps, he found himself face-to-face with Josie's bosom instead of Ben Cartwright's face.

"Why, hello, ladies!" he greeted her breasts.

"What did you call us?!" Adam demanded, too stunned by the sight in front of him to move farther than the sideboard.

"Hiiiiiii, Adammmmm," Josie giggled, waving at him with one hand while pushing Fionn's face away from her chest with the other. Fionn rolled off the Cartwrights and landed on the floor, spilling even more cider on himself and the rug in the process. He lay on the floor, giggling, and trying to drink what was left in his jar, though he ended up pouring most of it in his hair.

Josie got to her feet and, clutching Pip for support, stumbled over to her uncle and Adam. "We were just testing the apple cider Fionn and Hoss and, and, and, oh, whatever his name is, made."

"Joe!" Little Joe hollered from the settee.

"Right. Joe." Josie grinned up at Ben and lost her balance. Ben caught her under the arms, and Josie held her jar up to him. "You gotta try this stuff, Buncle Nen." She laughed hysterically at her mistake. "Buncle Nen!" she screamed. "I gotta remember that!"

Still holding onto Josie, Ben got a whiff of her breath. "You're drunk!" he said, shock overtaking his anger.

Josie looked up at him and stuck out her lower lip. "You're grumpy," she pouted. She looked over at Adam. "And you're tall." She dissolved into hysterics again, and Ben lowered her to a seated position on the floor.

While Adam stared helplessly down at his inebriated little sister, Ben strode over to the settee and yanked Fionn to his feet. "I suppose I have you to thank for this?"

"Oh, sure!" Fionn said, flailing one hand around for emphasis. "Blame the Irishman!" Ben wasn't sure how to respond, so Fionn pointed at Hoss and Little Joe. "Technically, you have _them_ to thank. They forgot to put the lids on the jars."

Ben set Fionn back on the floor and turned to Hoss and Joe.

"We forgot to put the lids on the jars, Pa," Hoss said just before letting out a deafening hiccup.

"I gathered as much."

Adam grabbed the jar from Josie's hand and took a sip. "It's the apple cider they made while Josie and I were away, Pa," he said. "It fermented. And clearly, they've been enjoying it all evening."

Ben sighed as he looked as the four sloppy young adults around him and the even sloppier state of his living room. "Adam, put Josie to bed and then send Pip with a message for Molly. Let her know Fionn's too drunk to ride home, so we're keeping him here tonight. I'll see if Hop Sing has any tricks for getting apple cider out of upholstery."

Adam set Josie's jar on the sideboard, swept his cousin up in his arms and carried her upstairs. Josie sang "The Merry Cuckold and the Kind Wife" at the top of her lungs all the way to her bedroom. Adam sat her down on the edge of her bed, and Josie flopped onto her back and kept singing while Adam dug a nightgown out of her chest of drawers.

"You think you can get into this?" he shouted over her singing.

Josie quit singing but kept staring up at the ceiling and waving her hands like she was conducting an orchestra. "No," she replied.

Adam sighed and tossed the nightgown onto her dressing table. "Fine. Let's just get your shoes off. That'll have to do."

Josie shrieked and kicked as Adam tried to unbutton her shoes. "What's the matter with you?!" he demanded, losing his patience.

"They're ticklish," Josie said as if this should have been obvious.

"What, your shoes? Josie, your shoes are not ticklish."

Josie sat up and grabbed his face with both hands. "How do you know?" she asked seriously. "Have you asked them?" She burst out laughing again, but at least she held still while Adam unbuttoned and pulled off her shoes. Once Josie was unshod, Adam grabbed her ankles and swung her legs around onto her bed. He yanked the quilt out from under her and covered her up.

"Go to sleep," he said, shaking his head. He kissed her forehead, extinguished the lamp, and turned to leave.

"Adam?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm gonna regret this in the morning, aren't I?"

"I think you're going to regret this later tonight. Goodnight, Josie."

When Adam returned to the living room, he found his father and Hop Sing sponging cider out of the settee and the rug.

"Joe and Hoss go to bed?" he asked.

"Yeah," Ben replied. "And I tossed Fionn onto the bed in the guestroom."

Adam wrote the short note to Molly, attached it to Pip's collar, and sent him and Conall out the front door with orders to find Molly. Then he grabbed a sponge and helped clean up the living room. Once they had gotten all the cider out of the upholstery (fortunately, Hop Sing said he didn't think it would stain), Adam and Ben collapsed in the armchairs next to the fire.

"I have to say," Ben began, "I never expected to come home to that."

Adam chuckled and agreed. The two men sat in silence for a bit until Ben's curiosity got the better of him, and he picked up an abandoned cider jar and tasted the contents.

"This stuff _is_ pretty good," he admitted.

Adam rose and grabbed Josie's jar off the sideboard. He took a bigger taste than he had before and agreed with his father again. "So good it kinda makes you want to sing, doesn't it?" he quipped.

Ben laughed and raised his jar to Adam. "Your good health." Adam returned the salute, and the two men passed the remaining time until bed finishing off the jars.

Adam's prediction to Josie came true. Somewhere around two a.m., she woke up to a violent churning in her stomach, and she had just enough time to race into the washroom and bend over the commode before three and half jars of hard cider came back up. Her retching woke Adam, who leapt out of bed and knocked on the washroom door.

"Josie?" he called. "You dressed?"

In between heaves, Josie managed to croak out a weak "Yeah," and Adam let himself in. He dampened a washcloth and knelt on the floor next to her. When Josie finally quit heaving, she fell backward onto the floor and groaned.

"You can say 'I told you so,'" she sniffled.

Adam bent over her and wiped the sweat from her brow with the washcloth. "I don't think I need to," he replied. He was about to offer her a glass of water when Josie's stomach lurched again and she had to bend over the commode once more for another round of vomiting. While Adam was rubbing her back and reassuring her that she'd be all right once she got it all out, Little Joe burst into the washroom. His brown curls were matted and plastered to his forehead by a cold sweat, and his face was pale, his green eyes dull and sunken. He let out a cry of despair as he saw Josie had already claimed the commode, and, realizing what was about to happen, Adam jumped to his feet and pushed his little brother to his knees next to the bathtub. Joe clutched the edge of the tub for dear life as he joined Josie in retching.

Adam stood there between his brother and his cousin as they vomited, and he wondered why he had gotten himself involved. He could have just stayed in bed and let them fend for themselves. After all, they'd gotten themselves into this mess. He was about to wake Hoss and let him deal with Joe and Josie when he heard a suspicious banging from downstairs. He darted into the hallway, where he collided with Ben, who had also been woken by the sounds of gagging from the washroom. Father and son dashed down the stairs and glanced around the living room, looking for the source of the new sound. Nothing was out of place, and they were about to go back upstairs when they heard the now-familiar sound of retching coming from the guestroom. Ben and Adam shared an exasperated look, and Ben sent Adam back upstairs to tend to Joe and Josie while he checked on Fionn.

Ben didn't bother to knock on the guestroom door. It was his house, and it didn't sound like Fionn was in any condition to answer the door anyway. He stepped into the dark room and lit the oil lamp on the wall. In its golden glow, Ben saw that, having no other options, Fionn had opened the window next to the bed and was vomiting into the front yard.

"Fionn?" he said softly when Fionn's stomach gave him a brief respite.

Fionn jumped in surprise and banged the back of his head on the window frame. He hollered in pain and rubbed the back of his head. He was about to turn toward Ben when another wave of nausea hit him, and he had to lean out of the window again. Ben shook his head and crossed to the side table where there was a pitcher of water, a bowl, a few hand towels, and an empty glass. He filled the glass and carried it over to Fionn. The young man was a mess. His shirt and hair were sticky with cider, which was now mixing with the cold sweat that had broken out when he'd begun vomiting, leaving Fionn covered in a thick goop. Despite his annoyance with Fionn for drinking himself halfway into oblivion on the living-room rug, Ben felt a smidgeon of pity.

"It's all right, son," Ben said, laying his free hand on Fionn's shoulder. "It'll stop soon."

When Fionn finally stopped heaving and dropped onto the edge of the bed, Ben handed him the glass and went back to the side table to dampen a towel. He handed this to Fionn, too, so the young man could wipe off his face. Ben noticed Fionn shivering in the cold night air coming in through the window, so he slammed it shut.

"Mr. Cartwright, I am so sorry," Fionn moaned as he flopped backward onto the bed. "Joe and Hoss forgot to cap the jars, sure, but I was the one who pointed out we could drink the cider. I am so, so sorry."

Fionn was still shivering, so Ben pulled the quilt up over him and tucked it around his shoulders. "It's all right, Fionn. I expect you, Josie, and Little Joe will be paying for your indiscretion all day tomorrow."

Fionn's eyes flew open. "Josie's sick?!" When Ben nodded, Fionn closed his eyes and groaned again. "Oh, Josie, what have I done? I just can't stop messin' things up for you, can I?"

Ben wiped fresh beads of sweat from Fionn's brow and refilled his water glass. "You didn't make her drink," he pointed out. "She's a doctor. She's well aware of the effects of alcohol."

"Aye, I suppose. I'm so sorry, Mr. Cartwright. You must think I'm an absolute buffoon."

Ben chuckled. "Everyone makes this mistake at least once, Fionn. Some of us several times." He gazed thoughtfully across the room and shook his head as fuzzy memories he wasn't willing to share of his seafaring days came back to him. "You should have seen what happened to Adam the first time he overdid it," he said instead.

Fionn cracked one eye and gazed hopefully up at Ben, silently begging him to tell the tale.

"All right," Ben said, sitting on the edge of the bed. "He was fourteen, and he and Ross Marquette found an ancient bottle of whiskey that Ross's father had forgotten about. Those two fools polished off the entire bottle. When Adam came home that evening, he was hanging half out of his saddle and babbling some nonsense about learning to fly. He was sick so many times that night that Marie and I ran out of clean nightshirts to put on him, and eventually we had to send him back to bed naked." He chuckled at the memory. "It was easier to hose off the boy than to scrub the nightshirts anyway."

"Marie?"

"My wife. Little Joe's mother."

"Oh, aye." Fionn digested this information for a moment before speaking again. "You're sure that was Adam? Sounds more like Little Joe."

"It does, doesn't it? But I promise you that was Adam. I can count on one hand the number of bad decisions my eldest son has made, but when he makes one…" Ben smiled and shook his head.

"Well, if you're gonna do somethin', do it properly, yeah?"

"Like you did tonight?"

"Just like that."

Ben chuckled again and took the water glass from Fionn's hand and set it on the nightstand. "You think you're all right?"

"Aye. The seas seem to be settlin'."

"Ok. Get some sleep. Holler if you need anything." Ben patted Fionn's arm and then rose and headed for the door. Just as he was turning out the lamp, Fionn spoke up again.

"Mr. Cartwright?"

"Yes?"

Fionn hesitated, and Ben could tell he was trying to decide exactly what and how much to say. "Thank you," he said at last. "Just, well, thank you."

"You're welcome. Sleep well, son."

Back upstairs, Josie's sickness had subsided, too, and Adam got her to drink a glass of water and then carried her back to bed. Little Joe had stumbled back to bed, too, and Adam rinsed out the tub and opened the washroom window to disperse the sour odor permeating the little room. He and Ben met in the hallway as they were both heading back to their own beds.

"Fionn ok?" Adam asked.

"Embarrassed and sick as a dog, but yes. How about Josie and Joe?"

"Same."

Ben shook his head. "If they get sick again, they're on their own."

"Agreed. Goodnight, Pa."

"Goodnight, Adam."

Josie woke the next morning feeling nearly as terrible as she had when she was first recovering from typhus back in the spring. The light coming in through her windows bored through her eyes and into her brain, and the scent of eggs and bacon wafting up the stairs made her stomach wobble again. She knew she had no one to blame but herself and that her uncle would never let her use a hangover as an excuse for lying in bed all day, so she rolled out of bed and onto the floor, where she sat for several minutes until the room stopped swaying. She finally staggered out of her bedroom, still wearing the same rumpled clothes she'd worn the day before. She stumbled down to the dining room, dropped into her seat, and laid her head down on the table. Pip ambled over, and Josie scratched his head halfheartedly. He'd returned during the night bearing a note from Molly thanking the Cartwrights for informing her of her no-good brother's whereabouts and asking them to please tell the scoundrel that if he ever embarrassed her this badly again she would drag his sorry hide down to Washoe Lake and drown him.

"Feeling poorly, my dear?" Ben asked with a smirk.

Josie raised her head and stared at him, her napkin sticking to her cheek. "Mrmph," she replied before lowering her head again. Ben and Adam broke out laughing, and Josie clapped her hands over her ears. "So loud. So very, very loud," she moaned.

Little Joe and Fionn staggered over to the table at the same time and plunked into chairs, looking every bit as haggard and miserable as Josie did. Little Joe dropped his head into his hands.

"Shoot me, Fionn," he pleaded. "Put me out of my misery."

"Only if you shoot me first," Fionn replied, laying his head back over the top of his chair.

"That doesn't make any sense!" Joe protested weakly. "How can you shoot me if I've already shot you?"

"Nobody's shooting anybody!" Ben thundered. Josie, Joe, and Fionn covered their ears and groaned as Ben's resonant voice rattled in their aching heads.

Hoss skipped down the stairs just then and glided over to the table, wishing everyone a most cheerful good morning. "Man, oh man, I am STARVING!" he said as he speared a huge stack of pancakes and dropped them onto his plate. Ben and Adam watched in amusement as the big man loaded his pancakes with butter and syrup and stuck a huge bite in his mouth. Only then did Hoss notice the state of his little brother, cousin, and friend. "What's the matter with them?" he asked, pointing his fork in their direction.

Ben and Adam burst out laughing again as Joe, Josie, and Fionn shot daggers at Hoss.

The hungover trio ate nothing that morning, not trusting their stomachs to accommodate anything heavier than coffee. When they were about to rise from the table, Ben cleared his throat.

"You four put Adam and Hop Sing and me to a lot of trouble last night."

Hoss, Josie, Little Joe, and Fionn stared down at their empty plates.

"Not only did we have to deal with three of you being violently ill, but you all made a huge mess of the living room, which the rest of us had to clean up."

The guilty four shrank in their seats.

"Sorry, Uncle Ben," Josie murmured. "It was sort of an accident."

"Accident?!" Ben thundered, splitting three aching heads again. "My dear young lady, no one 'accidentally' drinks himself into a bilious stupor! Now how do you propose to set this right, not only with your brother and me but with Hop Sing?"

"I s'pose Josie and Hoss and me could give him an extra day's wages," Little Joe suggested. When Ben just raised an eyebrow in reply, Joe added, "Or two days."

"Try four," Ben said. "One for each of you. You, Hoss, and Josie can each give him one and one-third days' pay."

"Yes, sir."

Josie glanced at Fionn and saw him reddening. She, Hoss, and Joe could easily come up with a day's wages apiece for Hop Sing, but cash was dear to the O'Connells. Like most small farmers in the area, Fionn bought on credit most of the year and repaid his debts after the fall harvest, and he'd need his remaining cash to purchase seeds and supplies for next year. Ben clearly was not expecting Fionn to contribute to the reparations, but Josie could sense how bad Fionn felt about the whole incident, and he didn't like feeling beholden to anyone. She wracked her brain, trying to think of something gracious to say that would let Fionn off the hook while preserving his dignity, when Fionn spoke up.

"I'm harvestin' the last of me crops this week, Mr. Cartwright. After that's done, I'll be over here helping you square the ranch away for winter. Ain't no one better at pluggin' drafts than the Irish."

"That's very kind of you, Fionn, but you are a guest here," Ben said. "My _children_ should have put a stop to the whole thing before it got out of hand."

"No, Mr. Cartwright. I'll do my share the same as them."

"Thank you, son, that's very good of you." Ben reached over and squeezed Fionn's shoulder and frowned as his hand came away sticky; he'd forgotten that Fionn was still covered in cider. His gaze drifted to Fionn's hair, which was sticking up in sheaves held together by dried cider. "Maybe you'd like to take a bath before you head home. Joe can lend you a clean shirt."

Fionn smiled. "Aye, thank you, sir."

Ben gave no quarter that day. Right after Fionn's bath, he sent Fionn home and sent Joe out with Adam and Hoss to move some cattle to winter pasture. Josie thought she'd slip up to her room and go back to bed, but Ben saw her try to slink away and reminded her that she probably had patients who would expect her to be in her clinic. Josie heaved a sigh and trudged out to her clinic. As soon as she stepped inside the little building, she sat down at her desk and dropped her forehead onto the polished surface.

"Dear Lord," she prayed aloud. "If you truly are a merciful God, please keep everyone in Virginia City healthy today and in no need of medical attention. Amen." Then she fell asleep.

Josie's rest was broken only fifteen minutes later when the front door swung open. Josie's head snapped up, and she had to take several deep breaths to keep herself from retching again as a wave of nausea coursed through her. She blinked her gummy eyes to bring her patient into view.

"Josie!" Cameo Johnson rushed over to her desk. "Are you all right?"

"I think that's my line," Josie said, peeling a piece of paper off of her cheek. "But I'm ok. Just had a little too much fun last night. What can I do for you?"

Cameo complained of a sore throat, headache, and fatigue, and after a quick examination, Josie diagnosed a head cold. She gave Cameo some camphor oil and sent her on her way with instructions to call for her if she started running a fever. Josie had no sooner sat back down at her desk when Ellie Jenkins ushered her two boys and baby Josephine, now almost a year old and trying to walk, into the clinic. All three children had the same cold Cameo had, and Josie sent them home with another bottle of camphor, glad that she had purchased so many when she and Adam were in Sacramento. By the end of the day, however, Josie was out of camphor oil. Four more patients had come in with head colds, and by the time the fifth arrived just before Josie closed up, she had none left to give him. She had to send the man home with only a few packets of willow bark tea and instructions to rest for a few days. After closing up the clinic, Josie trudged back to the house. Her nausea had subsided, but despite the ridiculous amount of water she had drunk that day, her fingers and wrists ached from the dehydration. "Stupid boys and their stupid cider," she muttered as she kicked at a rooster that wouldn't get out of her way as she passed the barn.

"How are you feeling, sweetheart?" Ben asked as Josie tumbled through the front door.

"Ugh."

Ben bit back a smug smile. "So what have we learned?"

"Beware of Irishmen bearing cider."

Ben chuckled and sent Josie upstairs to wash up for supper. It was just the two of them that night; Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe were sleeping out on the range to get an early start with the cattle the next morning. Josie took a little solace in knowing that Joe was most likely much more miserable than she was. After a light supper of chicken soup, biscuits, and ginger tea, Josie took a hot bath and went straight to bed, vowing that next time she would cut herself off after two jars of cider.

Fionn made good on his promise to help around the Ponderosa once his crops were harvested, and Ben put him to work stockpiling hay for their horses, chopping wood, and helping Hop Sing can the last of the produce from his garden behind the house. When all that was finished, Adam enlisted his help installing the indoor plumbing in Hoss and Patience's nearly finished house. Fionn was especially fascinated by this process and asked Adam all sorts of questions about how the plumbing worked and how much he thought it would cost to retrofit an older house to accommodate it.

"Sure would love to give Molly somethin' like this," he mused wistfully as he and Adam hooked up the pipes for the bathtub.

Adam studied the younger man for a moment and then said, "You know, Fionn, I've been really impressed with how hard you've been working around here lately. You've more than repaid a day of Hop Sing's wages. I'm sure you have plenty to keep you busy on the farm, but if you find yourself with some extra time this winter – and the weather cooperates – I could find plenty for you to do around here to earn yourself some extra money to buy everything you'd need."

Fionn stared at Adam in surprise. "Apart from keepin' the house warm and the cow milked, there's not much to do durin' the winter," he said. "But I don't have anywhere in that old house to put somethin' like this." He gestured around at the huge bathroom with its enormous tub."

Adam stared at the ceiling while he visualized Molly and Fionn's house. "We could build you a little addition just off your kitchen," he said. "That would make the piping really easy; you wouldn't need much to run hot water from the stove to the tub. And you and Molly wouldn't need anything nearly this big. Keep in mind that everything in here was sized for Hoss."

Fionn laughed. "Aye, suppose it was, wasn't it? That would be grand, Adam, but I can't take anythin' more from your family. You've done too much for me as it is."

"What have we done?" Adam asked. "Josie gave you a dog. That's really it."

"You've done more than you know," Fionn replied. "And I can't take any more."

"You wouldn't be taking it. You'd be earning it. Besides, you'd be doing me a big favor. I hate winter chores. They're cold." When Fionn remained unconvinced, Adam added, "Think how happy an indoor washroom would make Molly."

That did it.

"That's not fair, Cartwright," Fionn said, shaking a finger at Adam. "You shouldn't hit a man right in the sister like that."

Adam laughed, and as they finished up their work, the two men began planning how and when to build a washroom at Fionn and Molly's house.

On Halloween, the Cartwrights rode into town just before noon to help Josie, Little Joe, Fionn, Patience, and Sally get everything set up for the Fall Festival. They left the apple cider at home, Hoss, Josie, Little Joe, and Fionn having chosen to save it for Hoss's wedding reception in two months. By the time the family reached the field outside of town, a dozen booths had already gone up. At one, the owner of the International House was selling hot drinks and bowls of soup, Cora Milford was selling pies at another, and Will Cass had a colorful display of penny candy. All of the merchants had agreed to donate their profits to the library and school-bell funds. Josie was especially excited that a traveling photographer happened to be in town just then and had also signed up for a booth, and before the festival really kicked off, she dragged Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe over to the makeshift photography studio to have a portrait done of the four of them for Ben's Christmas gift.

By midafternoon, the festival was in full swing. Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe had won the adults' tug-of-war match with ease, and a 12-year-old girl had bested all the other children in the spelling bee. Josie spent the entire day on Fionn's arm as they circulated among the townspeople, thanking them all for attending. When a young reporter from the _Territorial Enterprise_ approached them for an interview, Fionn stepped back, letting Josie have the spotlight. She asked the young man, whose name they learned, was Samuel Clemens, to hold on a moment while she darted across the field to extract Little Joe from a bevy of young ladies and grab Patience and Sally, too. Josie insisted Mr. Clemens interview all five of them, since they had all had a hand in organizing the festival.

"And the library was Little Joe's idea in the first place," she pointed out.

Adam and Molly watched from a distance as the interview took place, both of them nearly bursting with pride. Adam laughed as a little boy in a black cape and a pair of pointed black bat ears zipped by them, hotly pursued by an even smaller girl in a witch's hat.

"Your handiwork?" Adam asked Molly.

"Yes, among many!" she said, pointing around the field to dozens of other children dressed as clowns, Indians, and many more bats and witches.

The field was abuzz all afternoon with taffy-pulling, horseshoes, the costume contest, and apple-bobbing. At dinnertime, the International House's booth started selling chicken dinners, and the schoolchildren of Virginia City serenaded the townspeople as they ate. Though the evening was cool, everyone stuck around for dancing when the sun went down. Josie grabbed Fionn without hesitation, and the pair of them danced for hours. Time flew by so fast that Josie was surprised when Adam snagged her for the last dance.

When the money was counted up, Sally announced to loud cheers and applause that the festival had generated nearly $400 to be split between the school and the library – money that John Billings immediately deposited in his bank's safe. Josie drew further applause when she announced that the library would open November 9 with Abigail Myers' free literacy classes beginning on the 14th.

Happier than she had been in months, Josie hugged all of her friends before they left that evening, holding onto Fionn just a little longer than the others.


End file.
